




»°% : 3l8s'. ; /°<* vSw; ^ -life ^°* vS 

V^V V^V v^\/ v* 











°o 












v > 



4* " , " «*•" ^ *•• 











<* *••»• A V ^o, VET* A 




***** : MBk\ w ** J 




Ay ^ 




Vn <V^ i • • * V^ 



^^ 



*' 







.0 ft 



,4Q 



J titer V o°* •" 

4<l 



V^*<y o*^>*%P° V'*^\/ ^^ 








> 



^1<>* %/'°-** < V* X/^^V* \*''fS**\b^ 























*\-^%\* /.^A; ^iS&.X .#*.* 



By HORSE, CANOE 
AND FLOAT 

THROUGH THE 

Wildernesses of Brazil 




By 



William Azel Cook 



THE WERNER COMPANY 
Akron, Ohio 






Copyright 1909, 

BY 

William Azel Cook 



©CU252957 



f^SifJ'Q 



CONTENTS 



CHAPTER PAGE 

I. First Words 1 



PART I. 

EXPEDITION TO THE ARAGUAYA AND 
TOCANTINES. 

II. Traversing a Vast Domain. — Great Coffee Farms. — 

Semi-Barbarous Abodes 12 

III. Life in the Far Interior. — Medieval Schools. — Primitive 

Customs 24 

IV. Traveling by Mule Train. — The Priests and the Bible. — 

The Evangel 31 

V. The Goyana Wilds. — Sanctuaries of Nature. — Poverty. 

— Meeting the Cherente Indians 51 

VI. Primitive Man. — Canoeing on the Araguaya. — A Para- 
dise of Animate Life. — Gardens of Eden. — Manioc, 

the Bread of the Land 58 

VII. Life in the Savage World. — Jungle Dinners. — Sylvan 

Dormitories. — Midnight Adventures 71 

VIII. The Karaya. — Receiving Strangers. — Personal Adorn- 
ment. — Domiciles. — Menageries. — Fishing and 

Hunting. — Husbandry. — Foods 84 

IX. Karaya Activities. — Canoe Making. — Weapons. — Nature 
Made Utensils. — Ornament Making. — Family Life. 
— Primitive Ethics. — Marriages. — Children. — Gov- 
ernment 101 

X. Karaya Sports. — Funerals. — Carnivals. — Religion 116 

XI. The " Civilized Ones." 129 

XII. The Cherente Tribe. — Savage Social Functions. — Hunt- 
ing. — Agriculture. — Wild Fruits 137 

XIII. Life on the Rio Tocantines.— " The Devil in Flesh and 

Bones."— Sacred Bullies 147 



Contents. 

APTER PAGfc 

XIV. Religious Festivals. — Universal Socials. — Sobriquetes. — 
Bad Men Named After the Gods. — The Prostitution 

of Religion. — Poisoning the Mind 162 

XV. Image Worship. — Origin of Famous Idols. — The Atone- 
ment Obliterated 177 

XVI. Social Conditions. — Benevolence (?). — Disposal of Un- 
welcome Children. — St. John's Fires. — Dance of 
St. Gonsalu. — Hell Let Out. — Nutting Expeditions. 

— Fighting with Ants 189 

XVII. Canoeing on the Rio do Somno. — A Wonderful Awaken- 
ing of Nature. — Cherente Hamlets 205 

XVIII. The Karaoh Tribe.— The Log Race 213 



PART II. 

FROM THE RIO DO SOMNO TO THE SEA. 

XIX. Canoeing on the Tocantines. — Revolutions 222 

XX. The Jungles of Marantic — Giants' Tables 229 

XXI. Floating Down the Rivers Balsas and Parnahyba on 
a Raft. — A Land of Fire. — Famine. — Tropical 

Storms 236 

XXII. Life in North Brazil. — The Evangel.— Boating on the 
Itapicuru. — Lepers. — Interments. — Sepulchral 
Niches. — Human Bone- Yards. — Commerce 247 

XXIII. The Cities by the Sea. — Missions. — Persecutions. — Sub- 

urban Jungles. — A Celebrated Shrine. — Remarkable 
Philanthropy. — The Overthrow of the Inquisition 255 

XXIV. Rev. George W. Chamberlain, D. D.— Market Day.— A 

Barbarous Hotel. — Riots. — Schools 265 

XXV. A City Beautiful for Situation. — A Mission Center. — 
Carnivals. — The Lottery. — Sao Paulo. — Coffee and 
Milk Saloons 273 



PART III. 

THE GOYANA CAMPAIGN. 

XXVI. Evangelizing. — Life and Doings in Southern Goyat. — 
Gideon's Three Hundred Men.— Domestic Econ- 



Contents. 

CHAPTER PAGE 

oray. — A Primitive Mill. — Rum Distilleries. — Cattle 

Destroyed by Insects 283 

XXVII. The Bible and the People 294 

XXVIII. Triumphs of the Evangel. — Jungle Churches. — Primi- 
tive Worship. — Neglected Fields 304 

XXIX. The Conflict of Christianity with Heathenism.— Semi- 
barbarous Cities 320 



PART IV. 



EXPEDITION TO BOROROLAND. 

XXX. Remarkable Providences. — The Matto Grosso Wilds. — 

Cattle Ranches 338 

XXXI. The Borders of Bororoland. — Forests and the Forces 

of Nature 351 

XXXII. Life Among the Bororo. — Eyed Constantly by a Horde 
of Nude Savages. — Astonishing Make-Ups. — Primi- 
tive Housekeeping and Sanitation. — Horticulture. — 
Foods. — Vegetable Cows. — A Wonderful Palm ....362 

XXXIII. Weapons. — The Blow Gun. — Hunting. — Marvelous 

Fishermen. — The Mano Race. — The Wild Man's 
Evening Anthem. — Woman. — Unique Marriages. 
— Fights. — Primitive Arithmetic 376 

XXXIV. Religion.— Revolting Funeral Rites 395 

XXXV. The Sorcerers. — Exorcising and Frightening Away 

Demons. — The Mystery Instruments 407 

XXXVI. Following the Wild Man's Trail.— Life in a Savage 

Club House. — Floating Down the Rio Pogubu 415 

XXXVII. Farewell to the Bororo. — Canoeing on the Pogubu and 
Sao Laurengo. — " Civilizing " Savages. — Across 
Plateau and Swamp. — Cuyaba 427 



PART V. 
THE RIO VERDE EXPEDITION. 



XXXVIII. Exodus to the Rubber Forests.— Extracting Rubber ..440 
XXXIX. Camping by the Rio Verde. — Making Canoes. — Explor- 



Contents. 



ing the Rio Verde and Penetrating into the 
Unknown. — Struggling with Rapids and with 

Fevers. — The Land of the Kajab£ 452 

XL. Disaster. — Tramping Across No Man's Land. — The 
Tapanhuma Cannibals. — Shooting the Rapids of the 
Cuyaba River. — Back to Civilization 466 



PART VI. 
LAST WORDS. 



XLI. Inconceivable Treasures Squandered. — Christian Expan- 
sion 480 



iv 



Chapter I. 

FIRST WORDS. 

South America is a vast, unmeasured world where sum- 
mer, like its rivers, goes on forever. It is a land of colossal, 
transfixed waves of mountains, hills and valleys; extensive 
plateaux; boundless, absolutely treeless and perfectly level 
plains, and fertile basins, where the luxuriant grasses are 
eternally green and water is ever abundant — the paradise of 
the stock raiser. It is a continent of stupendous wildernesses ; 
vast, majestic, and impenetrable tropical forests, scraggy up- 
land jungles, swamps and inundated lands — the eden of ani- 
mate nature : of mighty rivers and innumerable minor streams, 
teeming with countless varieties of fish, mammals and rep- 
tiles : of great water falls, fearsome rapids, beautiful cascades, 
sparkling brooks and bubbling springs : of violent electrical 
storms and torrential rains, resplendent sunshine and en- 
chanting moonlight, where " the heavens declare the glory 
of God, and the firmament showeth his handiwork;" where, 
'■ day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night show- 
eth knowledge." — They speak without words. It is a world 
where, in the words of Mrs. Browning, " the earth is crammed 
with heaven, and every bush afire with God," but, only he 
who sees takes off his shoes. — A land where Nature's grand, 
universal band, composed of millions of pieces, forever sounds 
its melodious and enchanting music in praise of the wisdom, 
power, goodness and love of the Father of Lights — though 
only he who has ears to hear can hear — yet, it is a land 
where mankind is entombed in the abyss of ignorance and 
superstition. 



Brazil 

* 

The existence of the South American continent became 
known to the European world soon after Columbus made 
his famous and daring- venture across the great " sea of dark- 
ness " in 1492. The eastern portion, called Brazil, fell to 
Portugal, while the western half became provinces of Spain 
because of a decision of the Roman Pontiff, and because of 
discovery and seizure. 

The Spanish, dominated always by two passions, the pas- 
sion for gold and the passion for propoganda, pushed forward 
from the West Indies to Mexico, then into Peru. Brandish- 
ing a sword in one hand, they said, fiercely to the simple, 
panic stricken people of these countries, whom they plundered 
and butchered, give us gold or we will cut you to pieces ! 
Then, to palliate this great wickedness by an act believed to 
be of supreme piety, and to balance their merit and demerit 
account, they extended the other hand to their unhappy vic- 
tims, exclaiming, take our religion, or we will annihilate you ! 

The subjugation of the New World was co-incident with 
the reformation in the Old. While Cortez was besieging and 
pillaging Mexico and extending the papal power in the New 
World, Luther, Zwingli, Calvin, Knox and Tyndale, were un- 
sheathing the Sword of the Spirit, the Word of God, that had 
lain despised a thousand years, and were inflicting deadly 
wounds and curtailing the power of Rome in the Old World. 
Again, while Spain was destroying, diabolically, the splendid 
barbaric nations of the New World, and extending her domin- 
ions there, she was disemboweling herself at home with the 
very same weapons that she was using to extend her power 
abroad. Ridpath, the historian, says that the bloodthirsty 
fiends who dominated Spain employed every known form of 
atrocity, injustice, barbarism, butchery and assassination to 
crush out human freedom at home and abroad. The forces 
of evil, which had been culminating for centuries, burst 
forth suddenly, like a volcano. The sixteenth century, the 
period of Spain's conquest and colonization of South America, 
witnessed the climax of human wickedness, folly, depravity, 
and infernal insanity, led by Philip II, and the Duke of 



Brazil 

Alva. This was the character of the power that christian- 
ized (?) South America. 

In the sixteenth century, moreover, when the tide of re- 
formation was rising and men were awaking, like Lazarus, 
from the sleep of spiritual, moral and intellectual death, and 
casting aside the grave clothes of an effete, degenerate, 
pagan religion, the Jesuit order, and the Inquisition arose, and 
became the double right arm of Spanish and papal power to 
force back the chariot of progress, crushing out human liberty 
and enlightenment and paralyzing independent thought, and 
to re-enthrone the powers of darkness. 

While the cruel agents of Spain were plundering the 
nations of the west coast of South America, adventurers, 
rebels, rascals and criminals, and finally, colonists from 
Portugal and elsewhere, began to appear in Brazil, which 
they found sparsely populated by numerous tribes of nude 
and painted but mild savages. 

The newcomers began at once to make raids upon these 
aborigines, attacking their villages, burning and butcher- 
ing, and taking captives to be reduced to slavery and em- 
ployed to convert sugar-cane into rum ; and to be themselves, 
in turn, converted into Christians ( ?) as a just recompense, 
and to square the merit and demerit account. This treatment 
of the South American savages has continued through the 
centuries until recent times. But as they succumbed quickly 
under this servitude, the slave traffic was extended to Africa, 
and black savages were imported in large numbers. The 
Portuguese and Spanish, universally, took wives and concu- 
bines of both these primitive races, hence a large proportion 
of the present population of Brazil is a mixture in varying 
degrees of these three races — the American and African sav- 
ages, and the scarcely less savage and pagan Portuguese and 
Spanish. Each race contributes its element of religion and 
superstition to the common stock, resulting in a jumble of 
rites, ceremonies and observances, over which really homo- 
geneous mass the corrupt papal priests preside. 

Brazil remained a province of Portugal until 1809, the time 



Brazil 

of the Napoleon wars, when the king of Portugal and his 
court, fleeing from the French, went to Rio de Janeiro. Here 
he set up his throne and established his government, staying 
about twelve years and raising Brazil from the degraded posi- 
tion of Portugal's milch cow to an imperial state. 

After peace was restored in Europe, the king returned to 
Portugal, leaving his son in Brazil as regent. Then when 
affairs had remained in this posture but a few months, the 
regent was recalled and the Portuguese government foolishly 
sought to sink Brazil to its former condition. But the people 
of Brazil, having had a taste of better things, refused to sub- 
mit to this humiliating program, declared their independence 
of Portugal, and persuaded the young prince to remain and 
become their emperor. The independence of her colony was 
finally recognized by Portugal without the effusion of blood, 
though two thousand Portuguese soldiers garrisoned a for- 
tress which dominated Rio de Janeiro. 

Brazil remained an empire until 1889. But a monarchy on 
American soil was an exotic plant that never became wholly 
naturalized; besides, the spirit of the age tends more and 
more to democracy and popular government. So a revolt at 
length fomented very quietly in high places, with which the 
army sided, and the kind old emperor, Dom Pedro II, rather 
than draw the sword and pour out a river of blood for per- 
sonal vindication, with little hope of success, went quietly 
and sadly aboard a ship with his family, during the night 
following the open rupture, and retired to Europe, where he 
soon died. 

Since this coup d' etat, Brazil has had a republican form 
of government, modeled much like that of the United States 
of North America. But the government, like that of nearly 
all South American countries, is republican little more than in 
name. There is no truly popular vote, for only a very small 
minority of the people are able to read and write, and but 
few seem to take much real, practical interest in politics. Be- 
sides, the people are far more truly subjects, or slaves, of the 
Roman hierarchy than patriotic citizens of their country, re- 



Brazil. 

garding the pontiff as a god and autocrat of the world. 
Even where there is a popular interest in national politics, it 
is very difficult, or impossible, to secure a full and honest vote, 
for the party in power can be depended upon to circumvent 
any attempt to unseat them. It is said that in many districts, 
the boss of the party in power appoints himself to cast the 
vote for the entire electorate. Hence the government is often 
merely an oligarchy — a comparatively small group of virtually 
self-appointed men who continue themselves in power in- 
definitely. In some South American countries, the govern- 
ment has been but a band of princely robbers. Therefore, 
popular suffrage, and government by the people and of the 
people, is frequently a farce. But, only a people endued with 
the Spirit of Christ, who are universally educated and high- 
minded and who love justice and reverence law, can be 
truly a republic. The sovereignty of a nation lacking these 
qualities will be seized and held by such Tammany rings as 
are strong enough, and cunning enough to take it. 

Since the moral standards and ideals of the South American 
peoples are low, universally, honor and civic righteousness 
are rare ; while " graft," or venality, is practiced commonly 
by men in important public positions, who gormandize like 
anacondas while they have access to the government manger. 
Large sums of money that should come from import duties 
are lost, annually, to the public treasury owing to the ras- 
cality of customs officials. A merchant, returning from Europe 
on a certain ship, landed at a Brazilian port as personal bag- 
gage, fifty trunks of costly goods, the duties on which would 
have amounted, perhaps, to thousands of dollars. To enter 
the goods as he did, he simply oiled the palms of the officials 
with a few hundred dollars. To do business with the govern- 
ment, the official hand must be, usually, lubricated with bank 
notes. 

Since the formation of the Brazilian republic, religion and 
the state have been, theoretically, separate and independent; 
but the wily, unscrupulous emissaries of the Roman hierarchy 
are still the great bosses of the nation, and the President of 



Brazil 

the Republic and the governors of States are often merely 
their obedient servants. These pompous and arrogant agents 
of an alien, unfriendly power and pious paganism, are plan- 
ning and conspiring continually to dominate the people, body 
and mind for their own aggrandizement and profit — an autoc- 
racy of the dark ages coiling itself, python-like, around a 
democracy. 

Quoting in part from a report of the Presbyterian Board 
of Foreign Missions: Perhaps never in its history has the 
Roman hierarchy made a stronger or more effective campaign 
against the enlightening of a nation, the growth of con- 
scientiousness and moral ideals, and the development of the 
sense of personal and national responsibility and patriotism, 
than it is making in Brazil to-day. A thoroughly organized, 
completely equipped, and skillfully and cunningly directed 
campaign is being conducted in all parts of the country, lacking 
neither money nor men, and marshaling all the numerous 
agencies and machinery of Romanism. Priests, nuns, monks 
and friars of all orders, and enormously rich, spued out of 
the Philippine Islands and European countries, are flocking 
to Brazil by hundreds, like vultures on a scent. Puissant 
creatures of the Vatican government, the most astute and 
persistent politicians in the world, who arrogate to them- 
selves all authority, in heaven and on earth, even to com- 
manding the Most High, are found in both houses of State 
and National Congress, and occupy the seats of governors 
of states ; and the Roman pontiff is flattering the rich with 
trumpery titles of nobility, hereditary and military honors, and 
sending his portrait with autograph dedication to prominent 
men, granting indulgences for life. 

But while this vast, perfectly organized army is exerting 
itself mightily for the overthrow of liberty and progress, and 
for individual and national degeneracy — dominating and de- 
throning the individual will and conscience — the rich and 
powerful Protestant, Evangelical Church sleeps on, rep- 
resented by a mere handful of missionaries, rarely reenforced. 

Romanism has enjoyed almost absolute power in South 



Brazil 

America for nearly four hundred years. What it has effected 
there will be more fully indicated in future pages. A his- 
torian declares that " the policy of this wonderful organiza- 
tion in every age has been to make every possible concession 
to ignorance that is compatible with the continuance of ignor- 
ance. It has sought always to amuse, to edify, to moralize 
and console ignorance, but never to enlighten it." Jesus, on 
the contrary, and the religion He taught, " is the Light of the 
world." The gross ignorance of mankind is absolutely nec- 
essary to the existence of all non-christian religions; while 
enlightenment is the child and bosom companion of Bible 
Christianity, and ignorance, vice and crime flee before it as 
night and its horrid creatures flee before the rising sun. 

Speaking roughly, Brazil — and, indeed, all South America 
— is a world going to waste. Its natural resources are almost 
incalculable, embracing the products of both the temperate 
and torrid zones, such as cattle, sheep, horses, cotton, cereals, 
sugar, coffee, rice, tobacco, hides, medicinal plants, rubber, 
dye-stuffs, nuts and fruits, precious metals and other minerals 
in inconceivable quantities, and an inexhaustible supply of 
timber. Finally, no country in the world is so rich, varied 
and interesting as regards animate and plant life. But the 
soil, which has been gathering fertility from the repose of 
ages, supports only a useless vegetation, except at miniature 
spots, comparatively, like a few oases in the Sahara, for agri- 
culture has only begun. The mineral resources of the country 
have been touched only as regards gold and diamonds ; manu- 
facturing is in its swaddling clothes; and as to stock raising, 
the country scarcely supplies even the home demand. An 
observer says of the great Amazon region, that no country 
in the world, perhaps, is so capable of yielding immense re- 
turns from agriculture, yet none are so little cultivated. None 
where the soil will yield such an enormous variety of valuable 
products, where the facilities for internal communication are 
so vast, and that possesses in such marvelous completeness 
all the natural requisites for a stupendous trade, and yet none 
more neglected. 



Brazil. 

Brazil is nearly forty times as large as England and Scot- 
land combined, yet it has less than two-thirds their popula- 
tion, though capable of sustaining, probably, the entire pop- 
ulation of the globe. 

Owing to remarkable Providences, independent of any plans 
of his own, and the converging of chains of events the be- 
ginnings of which were as wide apart as the earth, the author, 
acting as a sort of forerunner, or scout, for the army of Christ, 
traveled thousands of miles through the boundless wilder- 
nesses of South America inhabited by the children of the 
forest, besides traveling extensively and evangelizing among 
the more advanced peoples. 

The journeys through the savage world were made by 
means of dugout canoes, by rude floats made of hundreds of 
small poles, by horse and mule train and on foot. 

During these wilderness wanderings, we navigated many 
rivers, encountering numerous dangerous rapids and whirl- 
pools and escaping narrowly many perils. We saw, frequently, 
the margins of a river peopled by alligators and innumerable 
birds of gigantic size, while the air was gay with the flight 
of birds of gorgeous plumage and musical with their songs 
and chatterings ; and the water teemed, even seethed and 
rumbled sullenly at times, with fish and monsters — the para- 
dise of the sportsman. Occasionally, when voyaging at 
night, moving silently onward in the embrace of a mighty 
current through the heart of unmeasured solitudes, remote 
from civilization, and listening to the snorting, blowing and 
splashing of big, hungry creatures in the water, we could 
easily imagine that we had been placed upon the earth long 
prior to the age of man — in the Devonian Age when a 
universal ocean, marvelously animate with fish and other 
creatures, enveloped the globe. 

On land, we traveled by horse and pack mule, and on 
foot, carrying with us a complete camping outfit. Our jour- 
neys led us over great hills and mountains, down rugged 
declivities, and along serpentine trails that were fearfully 
furrowed by the daily torrential rains. We traversed vast 




The Great Falls of Francisca de Paula, the Niagara of South America. They are 
200 feet high and nearly two miles wide. 



See Chapter 



Brazil. 

areas of an unsubdued world of scragged jungles, and dense 
tropical forests enveloped in eternal gloom, awful in their 
midday silence, terrible in their midnight noises and black- 
ness, and dripping with water from the frequent thunder 
storms; and we often found ourselves entombed in masses of 
thorny vegetation, making progress like passing through in- 
terminable barbed wire entanglements. We followed for 
hundreds of miles the narrow divides betwixt great continental 
drainage systems. At times, we were permitted to view 
from altitudes, in the wonderful and enchantingly transpar- 
ent atmosphere, great expanses of the unknown world. 
Once, we saw twenty or more independent rain storms at the 
same moment. We crossed swift streams by means of cata- 
marans and rude floats, or by walking suspended trees, like 
aerial rope dancers, or by fording and swimming. We 
wallowed and waded through broad and dangerous morasses 
and submerged lands ; encountered thundering cataracts and 
numerous charming cascades ; journeyed through mysterious, 
unmeasured solitudes, beholding with deep feelings the mar- 
velous works' of God and awed by endless sublimities. We 
camped at times in wonderful natural botanical gardens of 
vast extent; or halted for a brief rest and for refreshments 
at some charming sylvan bower traversed by a laughing 
brook, regaling ourselves with delicious wild fruits, or dining 
upon wild vegetables and the flesh of wild beasts. The 
memory of these experiences will ever remain as a strange, 
enchanting dream. 

Results of the great forces of Nature were all about us. 
We crossed the basins of primeval lakes that were drained, 
perhaps, by mighty cataclysms, some of which are to-day the 
sites of majestic forests; while the ancient islands are now 
perpendicular walled table mountains, or giants' castles, and 
seemed to us mute, solemn, gigantic sentinels of the ages. 
We viewed stupendous hydraulic excavations and explored 
subterranean caverns, visited rubber forests, and penetrated 
into unexplored regions. We witnessed daily, with feelings 
of profound reverence, the sublime spectacle of " the birth 



Brazil 

of the sun ;" and as the mighty waves of multi-colored splen- 
dor rolled upward, like oceans of liquid glory, and the attend- 
ing hosts of celestial archers shot their wonderful, many- 
colored shafts of light toward the zenith, we seemed to be 
beholding the triumphal march of the King of Glory, and to 
be in the immediate presence of Deity. 

We slept in hammocks or on the ground in arboreal taber- 
nacles, or canopied only by the stars, or dwelt in houses of 
canvas ; and were often aroused in alarm by the collapse 
of our canvas shelter, or by the ceaseless flash and roar of a 
tempest. We were entertained, at night, by Nature's grand 
orchestra, the myriad voices of the wilderness. We were 
endangered by wild beasts, reptiles and savage man ; harassed 
by the armies of the insect world; scorched by a vertical sun 
by day and chilled by the winds of night; consumed by 
fevers. We subsisted at times, like the savages themselves, 
upon tapirs, wild-pigs, deer, ant-eaters, armadilloes, ground 
hogs, monkeys, huge lizards, turtles and turtle eggs, fish, 
great divers, macaws, rheas and various other wild birds ; and 
also upon numerous wild fruits and vegetables. Sometimes 
we were compelled to fast, and at other times to eat beans 
infected with worms, and beef crawling with maggots. We 
dined one day on a soup made of lard, water and a pinch of 
wheat flour. 

During these extensive journeys and explorations, we 
passed through seemingly ages of experience in single years. 
Entirely unexpected events occurred, at times, almost hourly. 
One moment, we floated in seemingly perfect security and 
freedom from care down a quiet, peaceful river, exulting in 
the wonders and beauty of Nature about us, and the next 
instant we were thrown into wild excitement, and were in 
mortal danger because of surging rapids in which our craft 
could not live, into which we were being sucked almost 
irresistibly. Sometimes, we lived in a state of war, having 
to post sentinels every night. We were completely isolated 
from civilization for long periods of time ; and once, did not 
taste bread for an entire year. The unexplored, unknown 

10 



Brazil 

world encompassed us; unmeasured solitudes enveloped us. 
In the dark, spectral hours of night, especially, we would feel 
ourselves mere helpless, unintelligent atoms in the midst of 
Infinity and in the presence of Omniscience. What was in 
this great, mysterious world, only the edges of which we could 
see, and which seemed to conceal itself from us behind in- 
surmountable barriers that hemmed us in like prison walls? 
What wonderful phenomena of Nature might it not contain? 
What marvelous secrets might not be waiting to be revealed? 
What sort of human beings peopled these vast regions? 
Might they not be lurking near our camp and shadowing 
our movements? Giant interrogation points seemed to stand 
thickly about us like huge phantoms, or apparitions. 

Remembering the grave dangers to which we were, at 
times, daily and hourly exposed, and yet shielded from, I 
am filled with gratitude to God and with reverential awe of 
His unsearchable love and protecting care. It may be said 
that we lived a charmed life ; but God guided us with His 
eye, held us in the hollow of His hand, and covered us with 
His pinions as truly as He did the twelve when He said, 
" Peace be still " to the tempest that convulsed the lake of 
Galilee. 



11 



Part I. 



EXPEDITION 



TO THE 



ARAGUAYA AND TOCANTINES. 



Chapter II. 

TRAVERSING A VAST DOMAIN.— COFFEE CULTURE. 
—SEMI-BARBAROUS ABODES. 

There appeared one day in the lime-light of publicity at 
the Brazilian capital, a party of strange, uncouth looking 
men. They were a group of Cherente Indians, led by one 
Sepe, who had come a great distance from the far interior, 
fifteen hundred miles of the journey having been made on 
foot, to seek a teacher, they said, for the children of their 
tribe. No Christian teacher responding to this seemingly 
urgent call, a Brazilian woman, a teacher in one of the public 
schools of the city, offered her services. A fund was raised 
for her, which was contributed to liberally by resident mis- 
sionaries, and she, accompanied by her son, who proved to 
be a libidinous youth, departed with the Indians for their 
remote villages. 

Some months after this event, I was requested to go to 
the Cherente villages and begin a mission there, if practicable. 
This was the circumstances which led to my visiting and be- 
coming greatly interested in the Aboriginal tribes of Brazil. 

13 



Brazil 

Leaving Rio de Janeiro, I traveled southwest by rail, three 
hundred fifty miles to the city of Sao Paulo, climbing, en- 
route, the Organ Mountains and passing through twenty- 
three tunnels. It was a journey full of interest to me. Bag- 
gage is not checked, free of charge, on Brazilian railways, 
but must be expressed; therefore, one hundred sixty pounds 
of baggage cost me nearly as much as my first-class fare, 
which, however, was less than one and a quarter cents per 
mile, while second-class cost but three-fourths of a cent a 
mile. The train was enveloped in a thick cloud of dust all 
day as the dry season was at its height. 

In S2o Paulo, I completed arrangements for the long 
journey into the interior, preparing and having printed a 
quantity of large, eight-page scripture pamphlets, which 
proved very useful in the work of evangelizing. 

From Sao Paulo, I traveled northwest by rail to a town 
called Riberao Preito — Big Black Creek. The railway, for the 
most part, was narrow gauge, as are nearly all the railroads 
of Brazil. It was an ideal day for travel ; rain had fallen 
the night before, the day was cool and cloudy, and we were 
free from the terrible clouds of dust which often make rail- 
way travel in Brazil very unpleasant. 

Our route lay through magnificent coffee regions, and at 
times, as far as the eye could reach, the blood-red land, which 
undulated heavily, or lay in gigantic ridges, was adorned by 
hundreds of thousands of beautiful coffee trees. At other 
times, we crossed low mountain ranges and big wrinkles in 
the earth's crust, skirted pretty rivers and brooks and muddy 
streams, or traversed sandy table lands, encountering, of 
course, many villages and towns. 

To reduce expenses, I traveled second-class. Our car re- 
mained full of " the great unwashed " during the entire day. 
I doubt if many of these people had ever had a full bath since 
their birth. The odor inside the car can be better imagined 
than described. Moreover, nearly all these travelers carried 
elaborate lunches, though a few munched huge loaves of 
bread only; and as they devoured their food, they dumped 

13 



Brazil 

bones, fruit skins and other garbage on the floor, and be- 
tween meals, made a thin plaster of the food refuse and the 
layer of red earth that had accumulated on the floor of the 
car, by incessant and copious expectorations ; at the same 
time, attempting to disinfect the car by smoking like vol- 
canoes. Many of these people were Italians, of whom large 
numbers have been imported by the government to supply 
the urgent demand for labor in the cultivation of coffee. 

The day's run terminated at Riberao Preito, for at this 
time, trains were seldom operated at night on Brazilian 
railways. 

Everything is red at Riberao Preito, whether animate or 
inanimate. The ground, which is clay ; the buildings, that 
were once white both inside and out, and their contents and 
furnishings ; the people and their clothing — everything, is 
nearly the color of dried blood. During the months when no 
rain falls, the wind raises the fine dust in clouds and it pene- 
trates everywhere in great quantities. 

Some of the finest coffee land in Brazil is found in the 
neighborhood of Riberao Preito. Near here, too, is the 
largest coffee plantation in the world. It comprises sixteen 
thousand acres of land, of which some fourteen thousand 
acres are planted in coffee trees. One would have to travel 
forty miles to encircle it, and more than forty miles of rail- 
way have been built to transport the coffee it produces. It 
gives employment to five thousand persons, mostly Italians, 
whose dwellings form villages. Nearly five million trees are 
under cultivation on this plantation, producing annually 
enough coffee to give every man, woman and child in the 
United States a cup of coffee daily for a week. 

To own and work a coffee plantation, is considered by 
Brazilians the most aristocratic occupation that one can en- 
gage in. To produce coffee successfully, requires a large 
capital and the exercise of great care. The best soil is a 
bright red earth, three or four feet deep, on a gravel 
foundation. 

The most perfect coffee berries are selected for seed, 

14 



i 

ill 






v _, 


' ■ IE 




V -'■ ■■'■■ ■ • - : 'S-j£ ;"^,'~-' 








OS <* 


..--.-. >."^-x4 <*fcXt 


K 


-;,.-,- n^fe^ 




- f^ 






ife^ 8 






- 


M 


:^< 






.~ 
















m ■ i. 



Brazil. 

which are sown in beds and carefully nurtured until the 
plants are eighteen inches high ; then they are transplanted 
in the great fields about eight feet apart in long rows, with 
a wagon road between every hundred rows for convenience 
in carting the coffee to the cars, each little tree being planted 
in a miniature pit a few inches below the level of the ground 
and covered with leafy boughs, corn stalks or sticks, to pro- 
tect it from the sun. If adequately cultivated by plowing 
between the rows and keeping down the weeds, which grow 
prodigiously, the trees will begin to bear fruit in three or 
four years, and continue to bear for twenty to forty years. 
In Brazil, the trees blossom most heavily in October, but 
they continue to flower more or less for several months, and 
the crop is harvested in May or June, each tree yielding four 
pounds or more of coffee. The blossoms are white and 
aromatic. It is a magnificent sight to stand in the heart of 
a great coffee plantation in the flowering season and look 
upon millions of these beautiful, well-kept trees covering the 
hills and table-lands for miles in every direction, and to 
breathe the air laden with a delicate fragrance. 

When the coffee is ripe, all other work on the plantation 
is dropped and every available person engages in the harvest, 
each of whom can pick about fifty pounds of coffee a day. 
The coffee berry is like a large, very dark, red cherry. In- 
closed in the thin capsul are two seeds, or beans, their flat 
sides resting together, though some coffee berries, like the 
Mocha, have but one small bean. All varieties of coffee grown 
anywhere in the world are raised successfully in Brazil. 

To remove the capsul and the pulp that envelops the bean, 
the berries are put through cylinders that break them, but 
without crushing the beans, then the seeds are separated 
from the chaff by passing the mixture over large copper 
cylinders two feet in diameter, filled with holes just large 
enough to permit the beans to pass through and out into a 
canal of running water that carries them to the receiving vats 
where the pulp is washed off. Next, the sticky substance 
that adheres to the beans after the pulp is removed, is elimi- 

15 



Brazil 

nated by putting them into tanks where great screws revolve 
slowly over them, washing-machine like, until they are white 
as parchment. 

The coffee is now spread out to dry in the tropical sun 
on broad, cement terraces, each one a little higher than an- 
other and covering acres of ground. Here it remains some- 
times two months while bare-footed men rake it about con- 
stantly with wooden rakes that it may dry evenly, gathering 
it into heaps at night and covering it to protect it from the 
dew. As no rain falls during these months, there is no risk 
in spreading the coffee out in the open air. 

The next step is to skin the coffee. Each grain is still 
inclosed in a thick, white covering, known as the parchment 
skin, and an inner skin as thin as a cobweb, called the silver 
skin, both of which must be removed. This is done by ex- 
pensive machines, some of which cost twenty-five thousand 
dollars. The seeds are first put through a ventilator which 
fans off all dust and other foreign matter, then they are 
thrown upon a great corrugated, cast iron wheel full of 
grooves which are so graduated that they break the skin with- 
out injuring the bean ; and finally, through a second blower 
that drives off the chaff. 

The final act is to sort, or grade the coffee. The small, 
round beans, which have grown on the outer ends of the 
branches of the trees, go into a grade sold in the United States 
as Mocha, straight from Arabia. So it is possible that the 
coffee we ask to have carefully compounded of Mocha and 
Java, may have grown on the same tree. 

Riberao Preito is the center of a beautiful and successful 
mission work conducted by the Methodist Episcopal Church 
(South). They are conducting a great and highly successful 
work at numerous points in Brazil. A recent annual report 
states that their Brazilian mission has been more fruitful 
than any work they have in any other part of the world. I 
spent several happy and profitable days with the missionaries 
at Riberao Preito. 

Another day's travel by rail, still northwest, brought me 

16 



Brazil 

to the town of Uberaba, which is the center of a fine cattle 
raising region. The day was charming, and the journey was 
to me a panorama of strange and ever-changing scenes : rich 
coffee regions and splendid grazing lands ; sandy, barren 
plateaux; rugged hills and mountains, fertile valleys, and 
strips ot forest and upland jungles ; charming rivers and laugh- 
ing brooks, solitudes and fire-swept territories. 

The Methodists have a church and school at Uberaba also, 
and the Gospel has taken a firm hold of the people. One 
convert was a military captain. He had suffered much for the 
Gospel, and was laboring zealously to lead his associates to 
Christ. There is a seminary for priests here, and also a 
masonic lodge. Masonry is regarded as a religious denomi- 
nation by the Brazilians. And why not? It has innumerable 
consecrated temples, a creed, a body of doctrine, an elaborate 
ritual and ceremonial, including symbolic and mystery rites, 
and priests. 

One day at Uberaba, a religious festa was held. And as the 
Roman high priest entered his temple, the women, wishing 
to pay tribute to his greatness, showered him with roses. 
At this, he turned upon them fiercely, exclaiming, " The 
bishop does not want these ! The bishop does not want these ! ! 
The bishop wants this ! " and raising his hand, he rubbed his 
two fingers with his thumb, like one feeling of bank notes. 

Going from house to house one morning to evangelize 
and sell Bibles, I was arrested on the charge of " selling books 
without a license," and ordered to pay what was virtually a 
fine of thirteen dollars. Bibliaphobia was the real animus of 
the affair. 

The climate of this region is delightful. A missionary 
friend and I went for a ramble over the hills, one day. The 
sun poured down oceans of delicious light, and the air was 
so transparent, the scope of our vision so vast and the 
silence so profound, that we could not but be strangely 
impressed. 

The hour came all too soon to say adieu — I commit you 
to God — to the dear friends in Christ with whom I had en- 



17 



Brazil 

joyed such sweet fellowship, and push on, one more short 
day's journey by rail, due north, to Araguary. Our route 
led over broad table-lands and seemingly limitless and un- 
broken solitudes. The track across these great tables had, 
at times, scarcely a bend for ten or twelve miles, and the 
ground was almost as level as a floor. These uplands were 
nearly treeless, and covered with coarse, dry grass and patches 
of poisonous weeds. But as we advanced, the low, stunted 
trees gradually became more numerous, until we encountered 
strips of forest and jungle on the edges of the table-lands, 
and low mountains clothed with a more or less dense arboreal 
growth. While crossing the plateaux, we saw no traces of 
the presence of man except occasional herds of cattle, and the 
dwellings of the section men. As we approached Araguary, 
the soil appeared more fertile, and settlements were seen here 
and there. It was a charmingly beautiful, clear day in Sep- 
tember — the Brazilian spring — and the air was cool and in* 
vigorating. The day spent traversing these great solitudes, 
where vast landscapes were from time to time revealed to 
our gaze, was another extraordinary day to me. 

I remained several days at Araguary completing arrange- 
ments to travel north by horse and mule train to the far 
away capital of Goyaz. The Gospel has taken a very firm hold 
of the people of this village, and it is the center of a large 
and flourishing work conducted by the Presbyterians. A 
strong church and school now exist, by means of which 
many persons are being brought to the feet of Christ. 

I had the pleasure of conducting Sunday and midweek 
services in the rough building which was used both as a 
church and school room. One day, I gave a blackboard talk to 
the children, using colored crayon. I found this an effective 
way of presenting the Gospel to both old and young. 

I stayed at a semi-barbarous hotel, paying one dollar 
twenty cents per day for the privilege. While here, I saw 
a man constantly reading a dictionary, and asked him why 
he did so. 

" Because I get the most knowledge out of it," he replied. 

18 



Brazil 

" Why do you not read books of science and general 
literature?" I inquired. 

" I have gone through all such books." 

"Have you read the Bible?" 

" Yes, several times, and know all that it contains." I 
began to wonder what manner of man he might be. Soon 
I discovered that he was a spiritist, which fact explained 
everything. 

Insane Spiritism, that absorbs everything but truth, is 
spreading itself like " a green bay tree " in Brazil. It finds 
a prepared soil. Its gods are ghosts and goblins; its bible, 
the mutterings of demons and vaporings of diseased minds; 
its salvation, innumerable transmigrations of the soul ; its 
heaven, annihilation. And infidelity, too, that mental disorder 
that doubts and denies everything but falsehood ; and rational- 
ism, that is very irrational, is infecting the leading men 
universally. 

There are nearly fifty millions of Portuguese and Spanish 
speaking people in South America. They live in a social 
state varying from semi-barbarism to advanced civilization, 
but all without Christ excepting a comparatively few. 

Of these people, the few dwell in kingly palaces surrounded 
by incomparable botanical gardens — veritable gardens of Eden ; 
but the many live in mud-walled, grass-roofed, earth-floored, 
vermin-infested, furnitureless huts, with the domestic animals 
stabled in the kitchen and at the front entrance to the dwell- 
ing. These creatures frequently die and rot close to the 
house. It often happens that one has to wade through mud 
knee-deep in the cattle pen, or jump over the hogs' wallowing 
place to enter a rural dwelling. How very sad it is that the 
people pass their days breathing infection in the midst of 
these paradises of earth, where the balmy, life-giving breezes 
of eternal spring forever blow, laden with the fragrance of 
perennial bloom ! Why do they make unto themselves these 
plague spots? Their minds and hearts are infected with a 
spiritual and moral blight which diseases and degrades the 
whole fabric of human life. Even the large cities of South 

19 



Brazil. 

America, which are nearly all on or near the coast, present 
strange admixtures of high civilization and semi-barbarism. 
Splendid mansions and irregular rows and groups of squalid 
mud huts are not far apart ; while individuals arrayed in kingly 
attire and others with no attire at all, intermingle in the 
streets. 

The dwellings of the lower classes, both in the rural dis- 
tricts and in the suburbs of the large cities and towns, are 
constructed by planting in the ground, twenty or thirty feet 
apart, two big posts that stand about fifteen feet high and 
terminate in a fork, to support the ridge poles; then four 
strong posts of lesser height, also terminating in a fork, 
are raised to support the eave poles. Both the ridge and 
eave poles are made fast in the forks by means of heavy 
climbing vines obtained in the forest. For the roof, rafters 
are bound on with climbers, and to these again are secured 
bamboo rods, horizontally, about one foot apart. To this 
frame-work is bound the roofing, which consists of palm- 
branches, or coarse grass ; or tiles may be used. Sometimes 
the part of the roof facing the street is of tiles, while the 
rear side is of palm-branches or grass. Palm-branches make 
an excellent roof, but if this covering should catch fire, it 
will burn so rapidly that the occupants of the house scarcely 
have time to rush out. For the walls of the house, the spaces 
between the posts are filled in by planting stakes in the 
ground close together, and to these in turn are bound, hori- 
zontally, bamboo rods on both sides. Frequently, the walls 
of a house are only such as are formed by the stakes alone. 
At other times, palm-branches only are bound to them, and 
often very sparingly. The reader will observe in due time 
that these dwellings of the " civilized " people of Brazil are 
scarcely superior to the abodes of the savage " children of 
the forest." Yet dwellings of this kind exist in large numbers 
even in and around all the large cities of Brazil, as well as in 
the interior of the country. 

When a more improved dwelling than this is desired, the 
ground near by is cleared, a shallow excavation eight or ten 

20 




The Residence of a Coffee Planter 




The Frame of a Dwelling House before the Clay Covering is 
put on. 



See Chapter ii. 



Brazil 

feet broad is made and the red earth is loosened up with 
grubbing hoes. Water is now brought in big clay pots 
carried on the head, and thrown on to the loose earth, and 
the builders, rolling up their trousers, churn the mass with 
their bare feet until a thick mortar is made. Large balls of 
this stiff, red mud are next gathered up in the hands by the 
" hod-carriers " and taken to two " masons," one of whom 
stands inside of the frame-work of stakes and horizontal rods, 
and the other outside, and the net-work is filled in from the 
ground to the eave-poles. The only hods and trowels of 
these men are their hands. Countless dwellings are not 
improved beyond this point. When these mud walls become 
dry they are masses of cracks and seams, and waste rapidly 
by the rain beating upon them. To go a step further, a 
strange material is used. The reader will think that the use 
of this substance indicates retrogression into barbarism instead 
of a step in advance. The walls are plastered inside and 
out with cattle excrement. Sometimes improvements cease 
even at this point. But usually, a heavy coat of lime white- 
wash is spread over this plastering and the house becomes 
white and sweet. I, myself lived in houses constructed in 
this way. Nearly every dwelling is divided into two or three 
or more rooms, the walls of which are built the same as the 
outside walls. But mother earth is still the floor of multi- 
tudes, even of these whitewashed dwellings. A step further 
is to put in a board floor. Other houses are built of "adobe," 
which is large blocks of sun-dried clay. Good city houses 
are built of large soft bricks, then plastered inside and out 
with lime and sand plaster. Nearly all residences are of 
one story. 

There is almost no furniture in the dwellings of the lower 
classes beyond a rude table and a few stools having sun- 
dried cowhide seats. Rude bedsteads, even, are often lack- 
ing, and hard, sun-dried hides, full of ridges and wrinkles, 
are placed, hair side up, on the ground for beds. The only 
" stove " in the " kitchen " of great numbers of these poor 
abodes, is three stones placed upon the ground, or a tripod, 
to support the pot. 

21 



Brazil 

In southern Brazil, during June and July when the nights 
are cold, the children suffer much where the walls of the 
houses are only rows of closely planted stakes. The older 
children usually wear but one or two thin garments while 
the younger ones go naked. Clustering around the meagre 
camp fire to keep warm, the smoke goes into their eyes and 
they rub them with their hands, which are usually in a filthy 
condition — as are also their bodies — so that all suffer from 
sore eyes during the cool season. When such children attend 
a mission school, they are cleaned up, dressed much better, 
and have a pleasant room to sit in. The school is a boon to 
them, if for this reason only. 

Visiting one of these humble abodes at meal hour, one 
will see an example of the social difference between men and 
women in Brazil. The wife enters the principal room from 
the " kitchen," spreads a towel over the rude table, then 
places upon it bowls of boiled beans and rice, sun-dried 
beef stewed, meal, and an iron plate, spoon and fork. Then 
she withdraws to the cook room — her part of the house, while 
her husband, seating himself on a stool at the table, does jus- 
tice to the repast in a fairly civilized manner. But one 
wonders where the wife and children eat. If he will look 
into the cook room, he may see the wife take a large vessel, 
like a tin wash-basin, throw into it a quantity of beans and 
rice and some chunks of beef, over which she sprinkles a 
few handfuls of meal. Next, she deposits the basin of food 
upon the ground and she and her children squat around it 
with no spoons nor forks but nature's tongs ; and balling 
up lumps of food with the tips of the fingers of one hand, 
they toss them into their mouths. At other times, spoons 
may be used, also there may be a plate for each individual. 

Brazilians have but two meals each day — breakfast and 
dinner. On arising in the morning, a small cup of very 
strong, clear coffee is drunk ; at nine or ten o'clock, break- 
fast is served, ending with a cup of the strong coffee; at one 
o'clock p. m. pure coffee is again taken; between three and 
five o'clock, dinner is eaten, also ending with the omnipresent 

22 




Building a House in Argentina, near Buenos Aires, where the river overflows its margins 
periodically. All the trees in view were planted. 




Fishermen's Huts and Rafts by the Sea, at Pernambuco. 



See Chapter 



Brazil 

coffee ; and again, at seven in the evening, the powerful coffee 
is drunk, and this only. Nearly everywhere in Brazil, both 
breakfast and dinner consist chiefly of brown beans, boiled, 
and heavily saturated with pork grease, sun-dried beef, 
boiled rice, which has been nearly fried in pork fat before boil- 
ing, and a kind of corn or manioc meal. It is difficult to dry 
the beef during the rainy season, so it frequently revives into 
multitudinous life. 



23 



Chapter III. 

LIFE IN THE FAR INTERIOR.— MEDIEVAL 
SCHOOLS.— PRIMITIVE CUSTOMS. 

There are but few miles of railway in South America, con- 
sidering the vastness of its territory. Brazil, for instance, 
has but twelve thousand miles of line, though its territory 
equals that of the United States and France, combined, and 
nearly that of the whole of Europe. In some South American 
countries, there are but one or two hundred miles of track, 
or none at all. 

Therefore, to travel and evangelize in the interior, beyond 
the railways, one must provide one's own conveyance. As 
the water from the daily cloudbursts rushes down the hill- 
sides, following even the faintest path, ruts and channels 
from two to twenty or more feet deep are made in the roads, 
which are seldom more than trails that wind about over the 
hills, and they thus become impassable to any wheeled 
vehicle, except the ponderous ox-carts used everywhere in 
Brazil. As these gullies deepen, the trail is shifted over to 
one side. But the ox-cart is quite unsuited to our purpose; 
hence we travel on horseback. We always take with us a 
complete camping outfit, a supply of Bibles and other relig- 
ious literature, besides personal effects, and a modest quan- 
tity of food consisting of copper-colored beans, rice, sun-dried 
— or tanned — beef, pork fat, coffee and sugar, all of which 
is carried by pack mules. We also employ a native cook and 
muleteer. If we did not have a camping outfit and a supply 
of food, we would often fare very badly, since we must, at 

24 



Brazil 

times, pass the night distant from human dwellings, even when 
working in settled districts. Moreover, the natives in many 
parts of Brazil have not sufficient food, even for themselves ; 
and besides, in no town or village removed from the rail- 
ways and from regular steam navigation of rivers, is there a 
public hostelry of any kind, or any convenience whatever for 
travelers, unless we give the name of " hotel " to a rude 
shed erected on the edge of the village in the more fre- 
quented regions for the accommodation of travelers. Occa- 
sionally, when we arrived at one of these primitive hotels 
after a long day in the saddle, we found it already occupied 
by cattle, goats, pigs, dogs and fleas innumerable, and even 
hornets. But we would eject all these guests — except, un- 
fortunately, the fleas — take possession, prepare and eat our 
simple food, suspend our hammocks, and go to rest; though 
we were much disturbed during the night by hogs and dogs 
colliding with our hammocks as they ran under them. At 
such times, we had to " drive pigs " in fact rather than in 
figure. At other times, we camped in a vacant house, or 
were kindly entertained by a resident of the village. 

My finances did not permit me at this time to have a 
" troop " or traveling outfit of my own. Therefore, in order 
to reach the capital of Goyaz, I bought a mule and saddle and 
contracted with a pack-mule train, engaged in the transport 
of merchandise to and from the far interior, to provide me 
with food and a tent, carry my baggage and care for my 
beast. This arrangement proved very unsatisfactory, as it 
did not permit me to travel and evangelize as I wished. 

I rode out of Araguary, a brand new cavalier, accompanied 
by two members of the Araguary church, some days in ad- 
vance of the mule train. The strange land, scenes and events, 
the strange people, and the strange mode of travel, all com- 
bined to make these days extremely interesting and roman- 
tic to me. My feelings were intensified by the threatening 
clouds of peril and uncertainty that were appearing in the 
horizon of the future. 

As we rode this day over the uplands, bewhiskered with 

25 



Brazil 

low, scrubby trees and coarse grass, we frequently saw what 
resembled a scraggy cherry tree, but which yielded a kind of 
rubber, called tnangaba, and bore an edible fruit as large as 
a hen's egg. I called this fruit a natural baked apple, which 
it strongly resembles. It surprises one to see so productive 
a tree growing in such barren places as it does. 

I now began to have my first real taste of life and travel 
in the far interior of Brazil. We passed the first night at 
a rude ranch house, dining at evening on the food of 
the land while sitting on rough stools at a table which 
was so high that it reached to our chins. The only 
lamp, that smoked and faintly broke the darkness while we 
ate, was a yard of home-made cotton cord that had been 
soaked in tallow and wax, then stuck against the door frame. 
Lying down, we were lulled to sleep by the music of a 
little water- fall just outside the house. In the morning, I 
robbed the calves of their breakfast, which I continued to 
do wherever I could during all my travels in Brazil. I say, 
robbed the calves, because they are allowed to nurse. There- 
fore, to obtain milk for family use, they are segregated in 
a pen over night; then let out in the morning, one or two at 
a time, so that the cows will give their milk. Just as soon 
as each one begins to nurse, it is tied to its dame's front 
leg where it can only look on while the milker, standing, and 
milking with one hand into a small tin vessel held in the other 
hand, deprives it of its breakfast. We eagerly accepted, 
early in the morning, any refreshments we could obtain, as 
our breakfast hour was usually, about noon. 

A very pleasant morning ride brought us to the simple 
abode of one of my companions. This man was employed 
by the municipality at a salary of about ten dollars per month, 
to conduct a school in his own house, attended by ten or 
twelve little boys. There were no printed books used in 
this school. Some pages of a hand-written letter were used 
in place of a reader. The education of the boys consisted 
of learning to read and write, the multiplication table, and 
perhaps a little addition and subtraction. The municipality 



Brazil 

required that this school should be in session from seven 
until ten o'clock each morning, only; but the teacher, wishing 
to more than fulfil his duty, conducted an afternoon session, 
from two to four o'clock, gratis. He also taught the boys the 
Shorter Catechism and the Lord's Prayer. He was an 
earnest follower of Christ; and though he had but little 
education himself, he was doing the best he could. 

Over eighty per cent, of the people of the South Ameri- 
can countries are illiterate. Where a nation has not the 
Bible, the common people are without a literature. A large 
proportion of the school teachers are barely able to read and 
write, do not understand arithmetic beyond multiplication or 
division, and the schools they preside over are " worthless 
both mentally and morally." Countless schools, like the one 
just described, possess scarcely a page of printed matter, a 
letter written by some merchant, being the reader, and the 
multiplication table the arithmetic. It is quite common to, 
hear the people of the interior say, when we offer them the 
Bible, " I cannot read the round letter," meaning that they 
are unable to read printed words. The children study aloud 
and in unison ; so loud, indeed, that the hum of their voices 
can be heard some distance, and one not acquainted with 
such schools may imagine that a saw-mill is in operation 
in the vicinity. Naturally, each pupil wishes to hear his own 
voice above the general noise, therefore each continues to 
raise his voice higher and higher. The teacher of . this medie- 
val school may be seen sitting at the head of the school, doing 
needle work if a woman, and glancing around furtively to 
make sure that each little wheel in the great human automaton 
is operating regularly. If one should pause too long, she 
shouts, " Come, girl go on ! " and Chica will again mingle 
her auctioneer voice with thaj:' of her sisters. 

Aside from the few modern schools in large cities, there 
is no co-education, not even in the primary grades. No schools 
exist in the rural districts, except where a ranchman or a 
planter employs a governess or a tutor. Nor does there appear 
to be any real school buildings anywhere, except in the prin- 

27 



Brazil. 

cipal cities, for the semi-barbarous schools just described are 
conducted in sheep-pen like quarters, bare of every kind of 
equipment, except rude stools and benches upon which the 
children sit dangling their bare feet and legs in the air. 
Fine, well-equipped school buildings, having capable teachers, 
exist in the large cities, but these are monopolized mainly 
by the children of the upper classes, while the lower class 
children are relegated to the medieval schools, or to the 
school of the street, where there is no lack of accomplished 
teachers. 

Continuing our narrative : Senor Jose, my traveling 
companion, and I started for a quiet ramble in the woods 
one afternoon, thinking to enjoy an hour of communion 
together concerning the Gospel ; but, poisonous, copper- 
colored wood-ticks began to drop upon us in such numbers 
that we were forced to retreat. During the dry season, from 
May to September, in the cattle regions, these insects hang 
in large balls to the underside of twigs ; then when a horseman 
brushes past, they let go their hold of one another and of 
the twig, and seize the object that touches them; and unless 
one is vigilant, one's body will be covered with them. They 
usually fall upon the knee of the horseman, so can be easily 
switched off, if taken in time. Or, one may rub tobacco over 
the knee of one's trousers ; in which event they will let go at 
once after taking hold, roll off onto the ground, and in due 
time, bunch up again, ready to try their " luck " once more. 

I frequently saw a very interesting bird which the Bra- 
zilians call, " John of the Clay," and always add, " He does 
not work Sundays." It builds a hard, clay house of four 
compartments on the large crosses, or on posts. 

At evening, a few neighbors having come in, we had 
worship in the house of our dear Christian friend, which 
resembled, I imagine, the meetings and meeting places of 
the primitive Christians. My bed for the night was a huge 
sack of corn-husks placed upon the large, high dining-table 
usually found in what is the sitting-room, dining-room, 
parlor, public sleeping room, and general service room of 



Brazil 

all Brazilian rural dwellings. I shall always cherish pleas- 
ant memories of Sefior Antonio and his simple abode tucked 
away in the jungle. He was poor in material things, but rich 
spiritually. 

In the morning, after breakfast and family worship, I 
enjoyed another ride with Sefior Jose to the home of his 
mother at a large cattle ranch in the basin of the Rio Par- 
anahyba, into which we descended by a very steep trail. 
This was a typical ranch and plantation establishment, and 
formed a little world by itself. The strange sights and sounds, 
in the midst of which I now found myself, interested me 
greatly. All was bustle and noise. Cattle buyers were present 
on their annual rounds, and herds of cattle caused a continual 
uproar, day and night, by their lowing; many lean looking, 
unshaven men, barefooted, and wearing only very soiled white 
cotton shirts, short trousers and heavy, broad-brimmed, felt 
hats, were coming and going constantly, mounted or on 
foot; several bare-footed, bare-armed women dressed in 
chemise and skirts, were busy in the rear part of the house 
preparing the food, while a dozen or two famished dogs, 
alive with fleas and full of sores, prowled about, or stretched 
themselves under the tables and benches in the house. In 
some rude buildings near the house, rapadura — cane-sugar in 
bricks — and rum were being manufactured in a primitive 
manner, for, though my companion's mother had become a 
follower of Christ, the owner of the establishment had not; 
and corn, also, was being pulverized by means of a rude con- 
trivance propelled by the brook that serpentined close to 
the dwelling. Among the men was an idiotic, but joyous, 
youth who amused the company with his baboon-like doings. 

When dinner was served late in the afternoon, big pots 
of the usual rice and beans were brought in and placed 
upon the large table in the chief room of the house; then 
the ranch owner shoveled liberal quantities of this food onto 
the large, white-enameled soup plates of his many men and 
guests, who, armed with iron spoons and forks, squatted upon 
the ground in various positions, placing the plate on the 

29 



Brazil 

ground, or sat upon any object within reach, or else leaned 
against the wall, while devouring their food. When the 
hour came to go to rest, I witnessed a custom, common in 
Brazil, which reminded me of the time of Christ. Huge pans 
of warm water were brought into the chief room and all 
bathed their feet, thus refreshing themselves. The feet only 
were bathed, however filthy was the rest of the body. In 
former times, slaves bathed the feet of their masters family 
and his guests. 

To sleep, two men occupied the two narrow beds in the 
chief room, the only mattresses of which were hard, dry ox- 
hides, two others reclined in hammocks, while the remaining 
number stretched themselves on dry hides on the earth floor. 
None of them removed any clothing, — they never do to sleep. 
I again occupied the bed of honor, sleeping on a corn-husk 
mattress on the dining-table, which became a common 
experience. 

The valley of the Paranahyba is a splendid, fertile region, 
and the happy dweller in this charming land may surround 
himself with a Garden of Eden. I was surprised at the 
number of beautiful, crystalline brooks that rippled and played 
over rocky beds. 

I went on at once to the Rio Paranahyba, where I 
joined the pack train on its arrival. I had now to say good- 
bye to the earnest Christian young man who had accompanied 
me thus far. The parting was a sad one to me. I was, at 
this time, quite inexperienced in the work that I was under- 
taking, wholly unaccustomed to life in the far interior, and 
possessed but an imperfect knowledge of the native language. 
Besides, a very extended and perilous journey was before 
me ; so I was in great need of the companionship of this Chris- 
tian friend. But, for financial reasons, I could not arrange 
to have him accompany me. It was a charming moonlight 
night, and going out under a tree where his horse was, we 
prayed together, then embraced each other in Brazilian 
fashion; and as he mounted his horse and rode away, I was 
oppressed with a feeling of loneliness and desolation. 

30 



Chapter IV. 

TRAVELING BY MULE TRAIN.— THE PRIESTS AND 
THE BIBLE.— THE EVANGEL. 

The mule train which I accompanied, consisted of forty- 
six beasts, in charge of six men, one of whom was the cook. 
Each animal carried over two hundred pounds weight. Both 
the beasts and their burdens were ferried across the river on 
a catamaran made by lashing together three dugout canoes 
and constructing a rough platform upon them. 

I daily got stronger and stronger tastes of life and travel 
in the far interior. Not having a hammock to sleep in, I 
had only the state of Goyaz for a mattress, and for a sheet a 
sun-dried ox-hide, which was like a slab of wood full of 
ridges. During my first night in the tent, while sleeping on 
this kind of a bed, a rainstorm struck us and the water ran 
under my sheet ; and the wind, aided by hungry pigs that were 
roaming about, finally knocked the tent down. The ox-hides 
were used during the day to bind the mule packs and to 
protect them from the rain ; consequently, my sheet was often 
delivered to me soaking wet and smelling putrid. In this 
condition, it attracted numerous insects, especially ants, as 
it lay upon the ground, and they usually tasted of me as well 
as of my sheet. 

We traveled fifteen or twenty miles each day, beginning 
the day's march as soon after daybreak as possible. The 
mules were fed corn each evening, which was obtained from 
a neighboring ranch, then turned loose to pasture at will dur- 
ing the night. Every " troop " of mules is accompanied by 
a horse, which is a sort of father, or mother, of the herd, 

31 



Brazil 

and around which animal the mules always hover while feed- 
ing. This horse carries a bell while the herd is pasturing 
in order that the animals may be more readily located in the 
morning by the muleteers. But sometimes one or two mules 
wander away, or are left behind by the herd as it feeds ; so 
that there is frequently much delay in getting them all 
rounded up, and occasionally, entire days are lost; though 
in this way the hard-worked beasts secure a much needed rest. 
We usually breakfasted at seven or eight o'clock, and dined 
at five in the afternoon ; but if we were much delayed in be- 
ginning the day's march, we did not have dinner until seven 
or eight at night, or even later. Nothing was served between 
these two meals but a small cup of strong coffee. In any 
event, it was a long, long time between meals for one who 
had been accustomed to three meals each day at regular hours. 
I therefore traded Testaments for eggs to families I en- 
countered along the trail, and had them boiled hard to eat 
cold at noon. I also exchanged Bibles for rapadura — sugar in 
bricks. I had long understood that God's Word was food, but 
never before had experience of the fact in just this way. The 
long time between meals did not appear to inconvenience 
the muleteers. Their capacity is so great that I imagine 
they could eat enough at one sitting to last them nearly two 
days. Moreover, they stimulate themselves greatly by 
smoking incessantly cigarettes made of powerful tobacco. 

These men are not far removed from savages. Their 
dress consists of a cotton shirt and trousers and a hat. They 
sometimes dispense with the shirt, and even the trousers, but 
never the hat. They secure the trousers by a leather belt 
around the waist, and wear the shirt outside the trousers, 
Chinese fashion. But few Brazilians wear suspenders. 

It always interested me much to observe the muleteers load 
and unload the mules at the beginning and end of each day's 
march. They work very skilfully and rapidly. The opera- 
tion resembles what may be seen when a circus is arriving, 
or preparing to depart. The train marches in sections of ten 
beasts, each section being - in charge of one muleteer, who 



Brazil 

travels on foot, ready instantly to adjust any pack that should 
become disarranged. As the mules are loaded, they break 
out into a mighty groaning, which many of them keep up 
during the entire march. Owing either to the pack being too 
heavy, or because of hideous sores under the saddle, some 
mules fall into the habit of running out of the trail, or running 
ahead a short distance and lying down. Frequently, they are 
unable to rise until the pack is removed, or if they do succeed 
in getting up, they seriously disarrange the load in doing 
so. Others bolt off down the trail or through the jungle, 
and strew their burdens everywhere, breaking anything that 
is frangible, and delaying the march for hours sometimes, 
while the muleteers search for the baggage. 

Our route lay through a region devoted almost exclusively 
to cattle raising. It is a world of mountains and hills, table- 
lands and broad valleys, covered with very coarse grasses 
together with a more or less dense or scattering growth of 
small, stunted trees, clumps and areas of forest, and wood- 
lands bordering the many water courses. 

The population is sparse, for I sometimes rode several 
miles without encountering a human habitation. These stood 
singly or in small groups tucked away here and there in 
the jungle, and always on low ground near the streams. 
Therefore in passing the night in one of these abodes, one 
can nearly always sleep to the music of running water. Wells 
are seldom dug. Villages were met with from time to time 
as we traveled. 

Because the pack-train marched slowly, I was enabled to 
turn aside here and there to visit the people in their dwell- 
ings, read the Scriptures to them and talk with them, and 
when possible, leave a copy of the sacred volume with them. 
On approaching a village, I usually went one or two days 
in advance of the train in order to have more time to spend 
there doing colporteur work and holding public meetings. 
I enjoyed this work exceedingly. I know of no higher or 
sweeter privilege in life than to carry the message of God's 
love to people who have never heard it. But I labored under 

33 



Brazil 

great disadvantage at this time. Going in advance of the pack 
train, upon which I was dependent, my baggage was left 
behind and I had to run great risk of not finding entertain- 
ment, as there were no hotels of any kind. I, therefore, had 
to trust to the hospitality of private persons. 

I arrived at a village one evening in the deep darkness 
and rain, and visited several houses seeking shelter, but with- 
out success. The people were afraid to receive me as I was 
not only an entire stranger to them, but also a foreigner, and 
I began to think that I would have to pass the night supper- 
less and sitting upon a log in an open shed — the " hotel." 
Finally, I met an old gentleman who kept a kind of general 
store, who kindly invited me to stay with him. He set before 
me what appeared to me at that time a regal meal after the 
bard and filthy fare, or no fare, of the mule train ; and I went 
to rest in a bed that also seemed royal after sleeping on the 
ground and being food for colonies of insects. But next 
morning, I imagine that the kind old gentleman wished that 
he, too, had refused me entertainment; for when he discov- 
ered that he was sheltering a " protestant," the opposite pole 
from an " angel," as he believed, he became much alarmed ; 
and when I showed him a Bible, he became greatly excited 
and inquired with trembling if it was a " false Bible." 

" I have one of those Bibles that are changed and falsified 
and teach against Mary, Most Holy," said he, and going to 
a drawer he disinterred a large Bible printed by the British 
& Foreign Bible Society, upon the fly-leaf of which he had 
written that he had bought the Book nineteen years before 
from a colporteur, supposing it to be a " good book ;" but, 
discovering that it was " falsified " and " altered," and that 
it " taught against his religion," he determined to bury it 
from his sight; and had written thus on the fly-leaf as a 
testimonial of his innocence, and entombed it as an atonement 
for the crime he had committed in purchasing so dangerous 
a book. It seems that after purchasing the volume, he ex- 
amined it, confidently expecting to find in it a full and de- 
vine setting forth of the peculiar beliefs and superstitions that 

34 



Brazil 

had been taught him from his childhood. Failing to find 
these, or even any trace of them, he concluded that they must 
have been wickedly expunged. 

Everywhere in South America, the people who are under 
the spell of the priest, firmly believe that our Bible has been 
falsified and poisoned by extensive omissions, adulterations, 
changes and additions. I have read in the preface to a New 
Testament, published under the authorization of the Roman 
Hierarchy, that the motive to print this work was, that, 
" the Protestants, hired by the London Bible Society, are 
going about shoving into our faces, bibles that teach all 
manner of lies concerning the religion that our fathers taught 
us, and that we know to be the only true religion, beyond 
which there is no salvation. They seek to force upon us 
bibles that are falsified, vitiated and altered, and that teach 
against the pope, against the church (?), against the con- 
fessional, against the eucharist, against Jesus Christ (?), 
against Mary, Most Holy, against the Holy Ones, and against 
everything that is good." The truth is that this Testament 
and that published by the " London Bible Society," are iden- 
tical in every particular, — there is not one jot nor tittle dif- 
ference in the text of the two books. Consequently, they 
utter a sweeping condemnation, not only of the Bible Society 
Bibles, but of the Bible which they have authorized. If the 
Bible Society's Testament is " falsified, vitiated and altered," 
and " teaches against the church (?), against Mary, Most Holy, 
against the pope, against the confessional, and against 
Jesus Christ, and against everything that is good" and the 
Testament which they caused to be printed is in exact accord 
with that published by the Bible Society, then their own Testa- 
ment is, by their own positive affirmation, "falsified, vitiated and 
altered," and teaches against the church, against Mary, Most 
Holy, against the confessional, against the eucharist, against 
the pope, and against everything that is good. 

But after all, they are far from wrong. They testify more 
truely than they suspect. The Bible — the Bible they have ap- 
proved of, — every Bible — most assuredly does teach against 

35 



Brazil 

" the church " — by which they mean their great priestly or- 
ganization, the Roman hierarchy — " against the pope, against 
Mary, Most Holy " — their great goddess the " Queen of 
Heaven " — " against the confessional," against the Jesus 
Christ of their own creation, not the real Christ, and 
" against everything that is good " — for them — against priest- 
craft. 

This bitter, relentless war upon the Bible, is wholly a 
question of self-preservation with the priestly army. As it 
increases, they must decrease. They know this. As the 
Thoughts of the Most High enter the hearts of the people, 
the doctrines of the most low, the priests, are driven out. 

If one should go through South America offering for sale 
the vilest volume that the foulest mind ever conceived, or 
that ever insulted the printer's art, the priests would nowhere 
oppose him. They would, instead, treat him well, — and buy 
his venomous volume — yes, and read it. But when one goes 
about offering the people that which is the conception of the 
Supreme Mind, and which tranforms and glorifies all who re- 
ceive it, he is considered a fiend, and the precious Volume, the 
very spawn of hell. 

When we ask a person to prove the charges he prefers 
against our Bible, he, of course, fails ignominiously. A few 
of the informed ones — and they are exceedingly few, as, 
doubtless, scarcely one person in a hundred thousand has ever 
had a Bible in his hands other than those published by the Bible 
Societies — will accuse us of omitting the " Apochryphal 
Books " from our Bible. But it has never occurred to them 
that they and their priests and teachers have most assuredly 
rejected, not only the Apochryphal Books, but the entire 
Bible. We, however, do not wish to suppress the Apochryphal 
Books, but instead, would urge every person to read them 
carefully. 

Astonishing as it may seem to many persons, the priests 
everywhere in South America have demonstrated thousands 
of times that they regard the Bible as their arch enemy. 
There is nothing on earth that arouses their wrath so terribly, 

36 



Brazil. 

and against which they wage such a war of utter extermination. 

The real reason of this antagonism is, that when one of 
their subjects reads the Bible, he cannot escape being much 
impressed, even astonished, by the fact that not only in spirit 
but definitely and positively in numerous passages, it flatly 
contradicts cardinal doctrines, besides many of the lesser 
teachings of their religion, while it scarcely mentions other 
canons and great features that are Mount Everests in the 
thought and belief of the people. Moreover, he discovers 
that it condemns the priest and his doings. As the humble 
reader contemplates the Thoughts of the Most High in- 
carnated in the sacred Volume, Light begins to leak into his 
mind and he awakes mentally, morally and spiritually, as 
from an age-long sleep, and begins to revolt, first secretly, 
then openly, against his master, the priest, and against the 
beliefs and superstitions that have enslaved his mind from 
childhood. If he should go to his priest, as many do, seeking 
an explanation of passages that he cannot harmonize with 
what has been taught him heretofore, the priest promptly 
brushes aside the whole matter at a stroke, saying to the 
anxious inquirer, if his Bible is what they call a " Protestant 
Bible," that it is " falsified, vitiated and altered ; " that it is 
a most dangerous book which will delude him and lure him 
straight to everlasting torment, and that he should no more 
allow it in his house than he would a scorpion, much less 
to read it. — Then the priest tucks the Book under his " skirt " 
and it is seen no more. 

Again, if the Bible in question should be what they call 
a " good book ; " that is, believed to have been printed with 
the consent of the prelates, the priest will once more dis- 
pose of the whole matter at a stroke, saying that, though the 
book is a " good book," yet the inquirer cannot possibly un- 
derstand it, and must therefore avoid reading it, else he will 
be led astray and damned for time and eternity. — Then the 
priest tucks the Book under his " skirt " and it is seen no 
more. In each case the humble seeker after Light is robbed 
of that which " giveth light." The result is exactly the same 

37 



Brazil. 

in each instance. The modus operandi differs in each case, 
'tis true, but this is just a little matter of detail. The real 
object is to snatch away the good seed and strangle the 
Voice of the Eternal that is en raporte with a human 
conscience. The priest virtually says to the anxious seeker 
after God, listen not to this Voice of the Most High, for it 
is " falsified, vitiated and altered," or, again, " you cannot 
understand this Voice, and it will deceive and lure you to 
everlasting woe. Listen, rather, to my words and do as I 
bid you, then all will be well with you." 

If the reader should suddenly find himself face to face 
with one of these priests who arrogates to himself the 
powers of Deity, he might experience a shock to his sensi- 
bilities. What a repulsive visage often surmounts the gor- 
geous and immaculate priestly habiliments ! — the more strik- 
ing because of the contrast. — It suggests " Mr. Hyde ; " or, 
Vice parading in the robes of Virtue. Men's characters are 
chiseled in bas-relief in their faces. Go to the slums of the 
city and pick out a plug-ugly. Crop his hair, shave him 
clean and make him rotund. Clothe him to the feet in a 
magnificent priestly robe and drape a spotless lace bertha 
over his shoulders. Give his eye a look of banished con- 
science and decaying intellect. Saturate his mind with 
subtle philosophies, which he imbibes without ratiocination. 
Dismiss his reasoning powers, if he should have any, and 
train him to be a mere reciter — a kind of human phonograph. 
Temper him with extreme arrogance. And finally, by long 
discipline, ingenerate his mentality with the firm belief that 
he is a sort of god, clothed with unlimited power and 
authority over his poor fellow sinners, on the one hand; and 
on the other, endowed with astounding powers of conjura- 
tion, so that, by muttering a few words, he can metamorphose 
dead matter into Deity — in other words, create God and con- 
trol. We now have a holy priest. But we must not forget 
that the priest also, like his subjects, is the victim of a strong 
delusion. 

Returning to my kind entertainer : I tried to impress upon 

38 



Brazil 

him the fact that the Bible he had was true and good, and 
how unfortunate it was that he had suffered this glorious 
lamp of life eternal to lie entombed all these years. 

" But," said he, questioning me, " you have no images 
in your church." 

" Yes," I replied, " we have a great many images in our 
church. But our images do not come from the carpenter 
shop, nor from the quarry, nor from the brass works, nor from 
the lithographer. Our images are living men and women who 
have had Christ formed within them ; and who go about 
imitating Him in their daily lives." 

" Well, you have no saints in your church," said he again. 

" Yes, we have also many saints — saints, too, that can 
be seen in flesh and blood. They are not deified dead, but 
living men and women who have been saved, sanctified and 
transformed by the blood and by the Spirit of Jesus." 

" You never go to confession, do you? " 

" Yes, we confess ; though not once a month or once a year 
to a dissolute man, but daily to God, Most Holy, Omniscient." 

" But, you cannot be absolved from sin, for you have no 
priest." 

" ' The blood of Jesus * * * cleanseth us from all sin ; ' 
and as for a priest, we indeed have One who is ' holy, guileless, 
undefiled, separate from sinners, and made higher than the 
heavens,' and ' able to save to the uttermost them that draw 
nigh unto God through him, seeing he ever liveth to make 
intercession for them.' " 

" We have abiding always in our temples the Body of 
God, made each day by our priest, while you have nothing; 
and there is no salvation for any one but those who, having 
confessed and done penance, eat of God's Body on an empty 
stomach." 

" God is purely a Spirit, the Supreme Intelligence, infinite 
eternal, invisible, unchangeable, the King of Glory. And can He 
be summoned from the Eternal Throne by a sinful man, turned 
into matter, confined in a box and consumed by men? Yet, 
He makes the human heart His throne, abiding always, 

39 



Brazil. 

spiritually, with those that love Him, dominating, transform- 
ing and exalting their characters ; for Jesus says, ' He that 
believeth on me hath eternal life.' ,And, ' If a man love me, he 
will keep my words : and my father will love him, and we 
will come unto him, and make our abode with him/ The 
great miracle (?) of your religion, as you believe, is the trans- 
forming of the Omnipotent into a little, round cake — debasing 
God; while the constantly recurring miracle of the Gospel of 
Christ is the transforming of wicked, debauched men into the 
spiritual image of God — exalting man." 

My generous host gradually became calm and thoughtful, 
and indeed was much puzzled at finding me so different from 
what he had expected ; and I left him reading the Book of 
the Law of the God of Heaven that he had despised for 
nineteen years. He may have feared to have in his house 
one whom the people are taught to regard as the agent of 
the Devil, and have secretly wished that some one had taken 
me in before I reached his home ; but having received me, 
he would not treat me other than with kindness, and would 
have protected me against any one seeking to do me harm. 
Hospitality is looked upon as a cardinal virtue by Brazilians, 
for they are naturally kind and generous. 

I remained Saturday and Sunday at this village, and the 
time was filled with interesting and profitable experiences. 
I went from house to house offering the people " the Book of 
the Law," reading and commenting upon it and talking with 
them. 

Arriving at the entrance to a dwelling, one announces his 
presence — unless he has already been observed by the in- 
mates, and the entire village as well — not by means of a 
door bell, or a knocker, or by rapping on the door, for in 
many cases there is no door to knock on, but by clapping 
the hands. After I am invited in and seated upon a rude 
stool, the male neighbors begin to saunter in at the front en- 
trance and to peer in through the windows, which are merely 
gaping holes in the walls that can be closed only by rough, 
heavy shutters. This applies to villages and country houses. 

40 



Brazil 

The women of the house — true daughters of Eve — and some 
of their female neighbors, approach the principal room where 
the visitor is from the rear and crowd in the doorway, or 
peer through the door-jambs, or squat in various places, 
where they may hear yet not be seen. All are curious to 
know who the stranger is, what is his business, and what news 
he brings from afar. Business is seldom pressing in Bra- 
zilian villages. Time is of little value, and many men spend 
years " looking at the flies " — doing nothing. Their motto is, 
" Never do to-day what can be put off until to-morrow." 
Consequently, one may have a delightfully informal meeting 
with a company of fifteen or twenty persons, get close to their 
hearts, help them to understand the message of God, and meet 
their various needs better than he could on a more formal 
occasion. They ask questions freely, to which one may re- 
spond in the words of Christ, thus removing difficulties in 
the best possible way, though one is often asked strange or 
irrelevant questions. 

At sunset, I met in the street, three young men who 
begged me to read more to them from the Book they had 
heard me read that afternoon. I gladly complied, explaining 
the text as I read. As we communed together regarding 
the Gospel, other persons paused to listen, so we had a very 
interesting street meeting. I begun this spontaneous " con- 
ference " saying to my auditors that I would read a passage 
that few persons liked to hear. Naturally, this aroused their 
interest. I then read very deliberately the first verses of 
the twentieth chapter of Exodus. They remained silent and 
thoughtful for a moment; then one asked me how I explained 
the fact that his countrymen had strayed so far from the path 
of truth. I replied that we had an explanation of it in the his- 
tory of the Israelites as given in the Bible : " The Book of 
the Law " remained hidden, or lost, for centuries, so the 
people, becoming more and more ignorant of what it taught, 
strayed far from the path of life and sank into gross idolatry 
and superstition. 

I passed another Sunday at a village called Caldas Novas. 

41 



Brazil 

This time, I bore a letter of introduction to the leading mer- 
chant of the village, a bright young man who was friendly 
to the Gospel, though he had not yet openly declared himself 
a follower of Christ. He received me cordially and enter- 
tained me royally, which I thoroughly appreciated after an- 
other week of mule-train life. 

I conducted a Gospel meeting Sunday afternoon in this 
friend's house, which was attended by twenty-five of the 
leading men of the place, and many women. The men occu- 
pied the main room and the veranda, while the women crowded 
in the entrances and other side places. I was accorded the 
most respectful attention. The discourse was on " The Word 
of God," the text being the eighth chapter of Nehemiah. I 
sought to impress upon my hearers that all men are under 
obligations to receive, ponder, and obey the Law of the God 
of Heaven as recorded in the Book which He had given us; 
and also tried to explain God's way of salvation. 

I was never in a place where the people appeared to exist 
in such utter weariness and somnolence as here. They seemed 
too exhausted to speak aloud, or even to breathe, and their 
speech was a sort of snore. Mother Nature has been very 
kind to them, providing them with hot and cold baths which 
are always ready night and day forever. The hot water 
flows into the pure, cold water of the brook, and the bather 
may float from one to the other. These people were the 
cleanest in their persons of any that I saw in Brazil. The 
nearest post office to this village was forty miles distant, so 
the people seldom saw a newspaper, and almost never a book. 

Late in the afternoon of the day following our departure 
from Caldas Novas, while I was seated on a box at our en- 
campment consulting a Portuguese dictionary, a young man 
living near saw me, and was curious to know the nature of 
the book. When I explained to him what it was, that " it 
contained all the words of our language," with an explanation 
of the meaning of each, and that I could find, instantly, any 
word in the language, he was astonished, thinking it a won- 
derful work. Then I showed him a booklet containing 

42 



Brazil. 

verses from the Bible in two hundred forty-nine languages 
and a picture of a high building in New York, all of which 
was a glimpse of a world hither unknown to him. Next, I 
played a Gospel hymn on the cornet. Finally, he invited 
me to accompany him to his house. Arriving there, I found 
a group of persons, among whom was a man who had heard 
something of the Gospel through the ministry of a devoted 
missionary of the Presbyterian Church, the Rev. John Boyle. 
This man recommended the Evangel, saying that it was the 
best religion in the world. This gave me a good introduction, 
and I spent nearly an hour reading and commenting on the 
message of God. All present manifested deep interest, espe- 
cially the young men and boys. Only one person in that 
large family could read. 

As we traveled northward, we frequently met other mule 
trains going southward to Araguary carrying " tar rope " to- 
bacco. We met, one day, in a narrow path in the woods, a 
train as large as our own, which was now augmented to 
seventy-six animals. There was great confusion for a time. 
The woods seemed alive with these squadrons of mules that 
disarranged their strange and ungainly packs as they ripped 
and tore past each other, or dashed about among the trees 
and got fast between them. 

Goyaz exports much of this tobacco which is made into 
ropes thirty or forty yards long; hence the name. It may 
interest many men to know that, in Brazil, consumers of this 
injurious narcotic buy it, not by the pound, but by the yard. 
Hence, every dealer in tobacco has a yard stick just as the 
dry-goods merchant has. 

One day, we met at our encampment, four huge ox-carts 
loaded with salt for the far interior, that were hauled by 
eighty-eight oxen — twenty-two for each cart. This cart is 
constructed of very heavy, hard, cross-grained, red wood, is 
roofed over with thatch or dry hides, and probably weighs 
a ton and a half, or more. The wheels are made of solid slabs 
of timber, are six inches thick at the hub and do not turn 
on the axle but are secured firmly to it, and stand six feet 

43 



Brazil 

high, and the rims are sunk full of bolts, the rounded heads 
of which form the tire. It is of great strength, as it must 
be to withstand the severe strain to which it is subjected. 
It is the national vehicle of Brazil, and about the only one 
ever seen outside the cities and towns. It was the first con- 
veyance to turn a wheel in the New World. The huge axle 
revolves, of course, under the ponderous platform which 
forms the body of the cart, and the bearings are never greased ; 
therefore when the contrivance is in motion, it groans, wails 
and shrieks in a frightful manner. The natives say that if 
the cart were greased, the sound would cease, and the oxen 
will pull well only to the accompaniment of this music. The 
note of each cart is peculiar to itself in quality and pitch ; 
therefore, when several of them, each loaded with three or 
four tons of salt, are moving in procession during the quiet 
hours of the night, their combined moaning, shrieking and 
wailing, which can be heard a great distance, is enough to 
cause the very hobgoblins themselves to shudder with fear. 

The men who guide the oxen, are armed with rods twelve 
or fifteen feet in length, having an awl affixed in one end. 
These they thrust continually into the shoulders of the poor, 
patient, panting beasts until they are a mass of deep wounds. 

Cruelty to animals is characteristic of all the South Ameri- 
cans. The backs of pack animals are commonly masses of 
revolting sores ; and the draft animals in cities are flailed 
with tugs, every blow of which causes the blood to spatter 
'from sickening wounds. Consequently, it is often harrowing 
to ride in a street car drawn by mules. 

Our trail led through a forest about one hundred miles 
broad with clearings here and there, the soil being very fertile. 
As we were following the highway to the Capital of Goyaz, 
we had less difficulty in crossing streams than is experienced 
in the more remote regions. Narrow water courses, too deep 
to ford, were bridged ; and catamaran ferries were provided 
for crossing the rivers. 

Once more going in advance of the pack train in order to 
spend a day or two at a village called Campina — Little Field 

44 



Brazil. 

— I rode twenty-five miles alone through a wild region, en- 
countering but one human habitation — a mere shanty — in the 
entire distance. Halting here to get corn for my mule and 
food for myself, I found that my host had a Bible which he 
had obtained at a village four hundred miles distant from 
where he now lived. 

Though Campina is pleasantly situated, it is a filthy place 
in every sense. A native that I met called it " The Devil's 
Pigstye " — from which it would seem that Satan keeps pigs. 
The people were sunken in ignorance and superstition. 
Nearly every person wore dirty, ugly charms hanging about 
his neck, and all were afraid of the Gospel. Three friars 
conducted a school on the edge of the village, though this 
increased, instead of relieved, the Egyptian darkness of the 
place. 

There is a celebrated shrine near Campina. I was told that 
it originated by a priest building a temple and installing 
in it three " images," or idols, which he had brought from 
Rio de Janeiro. Two of the " images " are each eighteen 
inches high and are called, " God the Father," and " God the 
Son " ; while the third figure is that of a dove, and is called 
" The Divine Spirit." Devotees come from nearly all parts 
of Brazil to attend the religious festival which is held here 
annually during the first week in July, travelling two hundred 
twenty-five miles after leaving the railway. The pilgrims 
" do penance " by circumscribing the temple on all fours, 
and in various other ways, " reciting " prayers as they go. 
My informant told me that " the images work miracles for 
those who have faith." They certainly work miracles for 
the priest, for at the time of which I write, they were bring- 
ing him in some three thousand dollars each year, which 
is a large sum in view of the fact that a laborer could earn 
but fifty or sixty cents per day. 

While at another hamlet a few days later, I met an honest- 
looking elderly man who desired me to celebrate mass for 
them the following morning in the little chapel, supposing me 
some sort of a priest or friar. But he must have thought 

45 



Brazil 

me a remarkable appearing priest to be neither barrel-shaped, 
nor clean-shaven, nor in feminine attire. I replied to him 
that I was teaching the Gospel of Christ and seeking to 
obey the Law of the God of heaven, and this did not teach 
me to " say mass." 

Speaking with much warmth, I said that it was absolutely 
necessary that all men should listen to and obey the Law 
of God ; that some day we would have to appear before the 
Judge of all the earth, and it was a fearful error to deceive 
either ourselves or other persons ; and that we must seek to 
know and to follow the Divine Light at whatever cost. 
Hearing this, my listener became much affected and tears 
ran down his cheeks ; and he said, " I am an old man, and I 
want to know and conform to the Law of God at whatever 
sacrifice. Won't you, please, read and explain to us what 
God has said." While we were talking, other persons came 
and stood near to listen. The presence of the Holy Spirit 
was evident, and the occasion was deeply interesting. Later, 
one of my hearers inquired, " Is there anything in the Bible 
as to whether Brazil should be a republic or a monarchy?" 
" The powers that be are ordained of God," I replied, then 
quoting also Matthew VI : 33, said that every man should 
seek first the Kingdom of God and His Tightness — put them- 
selves under the dominion of the Government of heaven — 
then there would be no difficulty about the government of 
earth. Evangelizing at a house, a woman asked of me a 
picture of " Saint John." 

Nearly every person in this region is afflicted with goitre, 
which is vulgarly called " crop," or " pouch." In many 
cases, it had grown to half the size of the head. 

Accompanied by one of the muleteers, I went once more 
in advance of the pack train, making the last twenty-six miles 
of the journey to the Capital of Goyaz in one day. We 
traversed a country of fertile soil, and fine grazing lands, 
forded beautiful brooks that sported and laughed among the 
rocks, and rode through natural parks, entering, finally, the 
picturesque gates of Goyaz, which are a pass in the Guilded 

46 



Brazil 

Mountains. These gates are huge piles of rock which remind 
one of the pyramids of Egypt, or the ruins of gigantic ancient 
castles. 

On our way into the city of Goyaz, we passed through a 
suburban village where we dismounted for a moment at a 
kind of general store and grog shop. Here, we saw standing 
in a case, a large idol called, " The Mother of God," which 
had been brought here for repairs (?) as the grog seller was a 
" cunning workman." I had always thought that God had 
to repair — restore — men ; but here, it seems, men repair the 
gods. 

The strange, remote little city of Goyaz has a population 
of eight or ten thousand, is magnificently situated in a basin 
completely surrounded by mountains, and is traversed by 
two streams that flow down from the mountains. This basin 
was anciently the hunting ground of an aboriginal tribe 
called the Goyaz. Though the city is the seat of the state 
government, it is merely an expanded, though decadent, vil- 
lage. It has no water-works, nor sewer system ; no vehicle, 
other than theox^cart, is ever seen in its streets, and horses 
and mules pasture in the public square. 

On arrival, I was given a vacant house to lodge in, as 
there was no hotel, and my food was brought to me on a tray 
from across the street. A hammock was swung for me, and 
I got my first experience sleeping all night in this kind of a 
bed. I was ignorant of how to get into it and how to lie 
in it, so got one or two falls, and passed an unpleasant night. 
A sleeping hammock is very different from those usually seen 
in North America. To sleep in a hammock, three things 
are absolutely essential, lacking any one of which is fatal to 
passing a comfortable night: It must be properly made, 
must be hung right, and lastly, one must know how to lie in 
it. First, the body of the hammock should be seven feet 
square with five or more feet of cording at each end ; secondly, 
it should loop heavily when suspended; and lastly, one must 
lie in it diagonally. If all these essentials are observed, one 
may lie in a perfectly horizontal position. 

47 



Brazil. 

I remained in the town of Goyaz but two weeks, and oc- 
cupied the time going about among the people, reading God's 
message to them and talking with them, and distributing 
Bibles. One day, I traded a Bible for a bottle of honey. I 
had read in the nineteenth Psalm that the Word of God was 
like honey, but in this case, it became honey to me in a 
new way. The men with whom I traded seemed as glad to 
get my honey, the Book, as I was to get theirs. Another 
day, I traded the Book for a hair cut. Again, I met a man 
who had a Latin Testament and wished to know the facts 
concerning purgatory. Evidently, there was so little in the 
New Testaments on this subject, which is so tremendously 
big in the belief of the people, that he could not find it. 
Another man wanted " a book on the future life." I replied 
that I had the Bible, which contained something on that 
subject, then asked him if he had a copy. He replied that he 
had the " Old and New Testament," and when I asked to 
see it, he exhibited a little book containing a few Bible 
stories, affirming that it was the Bible. I explained to him 
the nature of his book, then showed him a Bible ; and when 
I stated the price, he bought it eagerly. I often found that 
when a person said he had a Bible, it proved to be some other 
book. 

One day, while taking a walk outside the town, I saw a 
man sitting on a rock by the roadside, and stopped to talk 
with him about the Gospel. He questioned me as to who 
I was and where I came from, and finally inquired if I 
had " taken orders " and if I " said mass." I replied that the 
Law of God did not teach the mass, and that I had orders 
from the Lord Jesus Christ to proclaim the Gospel. Then 
I read a passage from God's Word to him which alarmed 
him and he sought to get away from me. 

Another man whom I talked with desired two copies of 
the Bible; and when he learned the price, it seemed to him 
so insignificant that he could scarcely believe it. 

Five fat, fanatical, French friars reigned over Goyaz, 
assisted by a priest or two and a dozen nuns. These individ- 

48 



Brazil 

uals dominate the people, body and mind, and govern more 
truly than does the legal state government; but the more 
intelligent, including professional men, merchants and think- 
ing men generally, have spued out Romanism. Naturally, 
though unfortunately, many of these men are drifting on the 
sea of doubt of all religion. But, though they have rejected 
the religion of the priests and friars and rail against them 
in private, yet they are moral cowards and fear them. They 
become " strong and very courageous " only when they wel- 
come God's holy Word and Spirit to their hearts, and hav- 
ing turned from sin, have been " transformed by the renewing 
of the Mind." These men are weakly negative, only, in 
their beliefs and convictions, though with strange inconsist- 
ency, they call themselves " positives." The women, on the 
contrary, are almost universally under the spell of the priest. 
The priests and friars zealously gather up and destroy all 
copies of the Bible that we distribute. Do they not know 
that these Books are the true Word of God, faithfully trans- 
lated? If they do not, they are criminally ignorant. Do 
they know that they are? .Then in destroying them, they 
commit a crime against Gdd and against their fellow men. 

One day, I was shown some interesting vegetable beads. 
They are somewhat larger than a large pea, grayish white 
in color, and very hard and heavy. A pith, like a toothpick 
passes through the center of each seed, which v can be easily 
removed, leaving the seed* just right to be strung. The 
natives have an astonishing name fpr these seeds. They call 
them, " Drops of Milk of Our^Sady," and regard them su- 
perstitously. " Our Lady " means, of* course, their great god- 
dess. These bea*Js are greatly prized for rosaries. 

On an eminence iust outside the town, stands a temple 
where " Our Lady " is said to have appeared, having come 
down from heaven. She — the image — is kept in the temple. 
She is rrfade partly of bamboo. From this, it would seem 
that bamboo grows in heaven. 

Excepting the first two days, I " ranched " while in the 
City of Goyaz entirely alone in a gloom)', vacant dwelling, 

4 49 



Brazil 

with no floor but the earth, and got my meals next door. 
My landlord bought green hides and dried them in the sun 
just outside of the house, and stored them under the house. 
Consequently, the air was so befouled by putrid flesh that 
I could scarcely eat. It was well that my stay here was 
brief. 



50 



Chapter V, 

THE GOYANA WILDS.— SANCTUARIES OF NATURE. 

—POVERTY.— MEETING THE CHERENTE 

INDIANS. 

Much to my regret, it became necessary to cut short my 
stay in Goyaz and continue the Araguaya Expedition in order 
to take advantage of favoring conditions of travel. Therefore, 
equipping myself as best I could for the long journey through 
uninhabited wildernesses and among savages, I quitted the 
city until a day in the unknown future when God in His 
gracious providence should again conduct me to it. 

Having arranged to travel with a small merchant " troop " 
to Leopoldina on the Araguaya river, one hundred thirty 
miles northwest from Goyaz, I rode out of the city alone 
in a thunderstorm, two hours after the troop had departed. 
Was this a prophecy of the year of wild and stormy exper- 
iences that followed. 

I now entered a region more wild and rugged than any 
I had yet seen, and travel was consequently more difficult. 
The trail appeared at times more suitable for mountain goats 
than for the passage of a pack train ; and in passing through 
forests and jungles, we were continually raked by bushes 
and thorns that pressed hard upon our path. The abodes 
of the few scattering families inhabiting this region were 
mostly wretched huts, like those of savages. Unbroken 
wilderness met the eye everywhere, for we seldom saw any 
signs of agriculture ; the occupation of the people, so far as 
they had any occupation, being cattle raising. 

I wore a poncha — the huge rain cloak used by horsemen 

51 



Brazil. 

in Brazil — which is like a little. tent with an opening only in 
the apex through which to insert the head, and covers not 
only the man, but the horse as well from ears to tail. Thus 
rigged, marching in the rain, the horse and rider appear 
to be a single creature — a monster. 

I overtook our troop at a rude cabin in the jungle where 
lived an old man and woman. Talking with this family, I 
learned, with surprise, that they already had an American 
Bible Society Bible which they were reading. It was a 
pleasure to find here in these wilds the Lamp of Life Eternal 
casting its benignant and transforming light into the hearts 
of these poor, simple people in their old age. 

We passed the second night of our journey at a lonely, 
dilapidated hut; and as we reclined in our hammocks for 
much needed repose, after the long, wearisome march of the 
day, the thunder of a gathering storm boomed louder and 
louder. We therefore deemed ourselves fortunate to be 
sheltered in a permanent structure instead of in our tent, 
which migh collapse ; and fancied the treble of the rain drops 
and the diapason of the thunder would aid us to enjoy re- 
freshing sleep. Soon the storm burst; but greatly to my dis- 
may, the water came through the roof as if it were a sieve, 
and poured into my hammock like into a watering trough. 
I could find but one small, dry spot in the hovel, upon which 
I stood like a hen in the rain. This is an example of the 
ruined condition of many dwellings in the interior. The 
earth floors of many are level with the ground, or below this 
level, hence they are flooded during heavy rains. 

The third day, we remained five hours continuously in the 
saddle and saw only two dwellings — the one we left in the 
morning and the one where we tarried at night. 

The rainy season was now at its height, and Nature was 
arrayed in her most gorgeous robes. I experienced peculiar 
sensations of joy and exhilaration of spirit as I journeyed 
through these strange, wild solitudes seemingly never before 
visited by men. I seemed to have left the world of men and 
the great geysers of human activities, with all their excite- 

52 



The Author in a Sleeping Hammock " in His Own Hired House " in Goyaz. 




The Luxuriance of Tropical Vegetation. 



See Chapter v. 



Brazil 

ments, anxieties, turmoil, strife and feverish haste forever be- 
hind me. The past seemed but a dream. Here, nothing was 
visible to remind one that " civilization," with all that it stands 
for, existed anywhere upon the earth. Life in the solitudes 
carried me back to childhood with its freedom from care, and 
its entire ignorance of, or interest in what the great world 
was doing. Here, the daily newspaper never came with its 
alarming headlines and harrowing details of numerous crimes 
and disasters, financial panics and social convulsions, upon 
which the " civilized " world feeds daily, even hourly. I 
had got back to God, who, through His word and His works, 
spoke to my soul every moment in tones of sweetest music. 
My estate was in some respects even more happy than that 
of childhood. Many years of experience had taught me to 
value childhood as the child cannot possibly do; better, my 
knowledge of God, through listening to His word and con- 
templating his marvelous deeds, was almost immeasurably 
beyond that of a child. 

But, being a messenger of Christ's Evangel was the great- 
est source of happiness in the wilderness life. I was always 
well armed with " The Sword of the Spirit," and dismount- 
ing occasionally, reverently knelt in some quiet, secluded, 
arboreal temple, built with never a sound of hammer nor 
voice of man, and where, perhaps, no human foot had ever 
before trod, here to adore the Most High, read and ponder 
His Thoughts, and to commune with Him entirely alone in 
the midst of His wonderful works. How delightful were 
these experiences ! They have enriched and gladdened life 
during all succeeding days, and the memory of them will 
ever remain vivid and sacred. How wonderfully did God, 
the Supreme Soul, reveal Himself and speak to my soul 
while I worshipped Him in the silence of a beautiful sanctuary 
of Nature ! What new and priceless treasures He disclosed 
to me in His Word ! How often, in answer to prayer, he 
relieved physical distress, vouchsafed deliverance from danger 
and guidance through difficulties, and opened doors to the 
hearts of the people! Frequently, from lofty positions, I 

53 



Brazil 

saw revealed to my wondering gaze, fifty or one hundred 
miles of what appeared to be only a vast, wild uninhabited 
world. But whether I saw Nature in its immensity or in its 
minuteness, it everywhere spoke of God who fashioned it 
all. 

Many persons think that life in these vast wildernesses 
among semi-barbarous and savage peoples, remote from civil- 
ization, is full of hardships and privations. True, Nature, is 
harsh and inhospitable, and at times the venturesome traveler 
is sorely pressed. But perhaps, on the whole, hardships are 
more the exception than the rule. Where, however, is life 
free from suffering? Nevertheless, if one would " save others, 
himself he cannot save." The joy of being the means to lift 
men up and point them to God totally benumbs the suffer- 
ing incurred in so doing. 

One day, I saw near our trail, a grove of lemon trees 
growing wild, and halted to fill my pockets with the ripe 
fruit, which is unusually valuable in this climate. These 
trees are as the tree of life, for in some sections they are 
always in bloom and the fruit is ripening every day in the 
year. 

At another dwelling where we stayed all night, I gave 
a man a Testament and had soon to give away more copies 
to other families living near. They seemed delighted to get 
the books. All the children here were naked except an infant. 

As I advanced into the interior, I found myself regarded 
with increasing interest. A new title also was given me in 
each region I visited. In Goyaz, I was " Mr. Minister " ; 
afterward, I became " Mr. Doctor," then " Mr. Priest," next 
"Mr. Captain," and finally, "The Reverend." All men of 
any prominence whatever in Brazil are given titles. The 
people began, too, to beg me to diagnose and treat their dis- 
eases, and to give or sell them remedies, for a physician is 
never seen in these regions, and nearly every person suffers 
from some disorder, or has horrid sores on his body. I much 
regretted that I did not have a case of medicines with which 
to treat simple ailments. 

54 



Brazil. 

A constant surprise to the traveler in the far interior of 
Brazil is the extreme poverty in which the majority of the 
people live. The soil and the climate are such that an un- 
limited variety of fruits and vegetables can be grown, many 
of which, once planted and cultivated a few years, will continue 
to produce indefinitely with little or no care. Yet, the people 
are very poorly nourished, many living in a state of semi- 
famine. Nearly all such families possess a cross-cut-saw- 
like pig or two, a few hens, and one or more — usually more — 
animated skeletons of dogs. The great bug family is so much 
in evidence in Brazil that Biddy, the hen, can subsist largely 
upon them. Nevertheless the people have but few fowls ; and 
instead of having food stuffs to sell to passing travelers, 
they await their coming to beg food from them. 

The eighth day of our march from Goyaz, we camped for 
the night in the big shed of a distillery which had been turned 
into a stable and barnyard. We were protected from the 
weather, but not from the odor of ancient swill and other 
stenches that filled our nostrils. 

The last day of our journey to Leopoldina, it was neces- 
sary to travel thirty miles through a territory where no man 
dwells. As we were situated at this time, we had to make 
this distance in one march, or pass the night in a desolate 
place without either supper or bed. But as we were late in 
starting, I felt that we could not go so far this day for 
the buzzards were already eyeing two of our pack mules. 
They had wasted almost to skeletons and had very little 
hair on their bodies — or carcasses; and the few patches they 
did have were more like moss and mildew than hair. As I 
feared, we were unable to reach our destination this day, for 
darkness overtook us, and our mules became too exhausted 
to carry their loads further. So we were compelled to pass 
the night in the jungle, supping on a bit of native cheese, a 
bar of chocolate, and a cup of marsh water for tea ; and I slept 
upon two of my boxes placed end to end. Anticipating this 
termination of our day's march, I had taken the precaution 
before starting to eat all the eggs obtainable, which were few. 

55 



Brazil 

In addition to going supperless and passing the night on a 
short, narrow, hard, uneven bed, we had to banquet the great 
mosquito race, and we were soaked with dew. 

But morning dawned at last, and after an enjoyable ten 
miles' ride through the woods in the beautiful sunshine, we 
arrived at Leopoldina, a decadent hamlet on the great Ara- 
guaya river. I cannot describe what peculiar feelings of satis- 
faction and gladness I experienced when at last I gazed upon 
this mighty river this charming summer morn. I had thought 
and talked about it for months, and having planned, and strug- 
gled with difficulties, and toiled so long and journeyed so far 
to reach it, had often wondered if it would ever lie revealed 
to me. Now that my dream had become a reality, I felt like 
one who had triumphed in some great undertaking. 

The Araguaya, even at this distance of some twenty-five 
hundred miles from the sea, is in truth a great river. It 
was a magnificent spectacle to me for I love the water and 
the wooded shores. It charmed and interested me strangely, 
moreover, because of the remarkable variety and profusion 
of life of which I knew it to be the home ; because it ser- 
pentines its mighty course through a boundless, unexplored 
world inhabited only by the wild men ; and because I saw in 
imagination a beautiful time in the future when the com- 
merce of a prosperous and mighty civilization would float 
upon its broad bosom. 

Our arrival was the great event of the season at Leopoldina 
where travelers rarely appear to disturb the monotony of the 
solitary existence of the few people who live here. As ex- 
pected, I overtook here the teacher from Rio de Janeiro and 
her party, including the Cherente Indians. They were pre- 
paring to descend the river in canoes, and I arranged to ac- 
company them. The press of the Federal capital had pro- 
fessed the highest admiration for the teacher, as well they 
might, and had lauded her to the skies for her courage in 
undertaking a journey so very extended, and so fraught with 
difficulties and dangers in order to engage in a work still 
more difficult and hazardous. But, as frequently happens, 

56 



Brazil 

their admiration exhausted itself largely in high-sounding 
phrases only,, and not in deeds, like clouds and wind without 
rain, for when I overtook her she was without means to 
continue her undertaking. 

My introduction to the Cherente Indians occurred as I 
stood by the river, just after my arrival. One of them, wear- 
ing a hat, shirt and linen trousers, waded across a creek to 
where I stood, not troubling himself to roll up his trousers 
so that they would not get wet. Greeting me in a mongrel 
tongue, he inquired if I had any other trousers than those I 
was wearing. On my replying in the affirmative, he asked 
that I lend them to him while he dried his own. Later, I 
met Sepe, the leader of the band, who spoke Portuguese fairly 
well. 



57 



Chapter VI. 

PRIMITIVE MAN.— CANOEING ON THE ARAGUAYA. 

—PARADISE OF ANIMATE LIFE.— GARDENS OF 

EDEN.— MANIOC, THE BREAD OF THE LAND. 

A vast territory of perhaps two and one-half million 
square miles in the heart of South America, remains to this 
day virtually unknown to the Christian world, and but little 
known to the scientific world. This boundless, unexplored 
world is peopled by hundreds of savage tribes speaking a 
multitude of languages and dialects that have never been re- 
duced to writing. They live just as they have lived from 
time immemorial. Millenniums have come and gone without 
apparently any change having occurred in their social condi- 
tion. They all exist in a state of virtually absolute nudity, 
the dwellers of cold, barren, storm-smitten Tierre del Fuego 
not excepted, and maintain the struggle for existence largely 
by hunting and fishing and by the spontaneous productions 
of Nature. Excepting where they have come into touch with 
the higher races, they are without metal instruments, lacking 
which man can cultivate the soil but little. They represent 
what science calls " the stone age "—the pre-metal age — the 
childhood of man. They are as " babes in the woods," lost 
in the forests of ignorance, dense and morally more malarious 
than Stanley's forests of Urega. 

They are an example, on a great scale, rather of the retro- 
gression than the evolution of man, of degeneration instead 
of regeneration. These unnumbered and degenerate hordes 
seem like widely dispersed fragments of the wreckage from 
a mighty universal catastrophe and upheaval of mankind — 

53 



Brazil 

derelects, drifting for ages on the ocean of time. Physically, 
they have developed splendidly, and approach closely the 
completeness that the Creator has ordained for man; they 
are fine animals. Mentally, they have scarcely advanced one 
step, and they fall immeasurably below the standard of in- 
tellectual completeness that the Supreme Mind has benefi- 
ciently ordained that all mankind should strive to attain 
and to enjoy. Morally, or spiritually, they have not developed 
at all, but instead, have shrivelled fearfully, and every day 
they fail more and more of the glorious standard of perfect 
manhood and soul development that God, the Supreme Soul, 
has established, and ardently desires that all men should attain 
to, until they are almost infinitely removed from God. What 
a fearful mis-iortune it is that men should so utterly miss the 
prize of the high-calling of God. 

For many of the facts herein presented regarding the 
Karaya tribe, of the Araguaya, I am indebted to that valuable 
work on South American Ethnology, Beitrage zur Vblkerkimde 
Brasiliens, by Dr. Paul Ehrenreich. 

The Brazilian government once maintained a school at 
Leopoldina to " civilize " the Karaya who live in several vil- 
lages, or clusters of huts, scattered along the Araguaya a 
thousand miles. Much money was expended in this venture, 
but like many similar government enterprises, it ended with- 
out any desirable results having been achieved. Though a 
sincere effort may have been made to teach a few of the 
arts of civilization to these children of the wilds, yet the heart, 
or conscience, remained untouched by any elevating influences. 
Moreover, the moral influences that did exist, were positively 
bad, for the " civilization " that operated on these primitive 
people was immoral, degenerate. Therefore the savage pupils 
readily absorbed the vices of their teachers and examples, 
which were positive, but were not so apt to acquire their 
virtues, which were at best merely neutral. So they graduated 
from the school of " civilization " in a worse plight, morally 
and socially, than when they " matriculated." 

To establish a school to " civilize " the children of the 



59 



Brazil. 

forest, the course usually adopted, whether the work is done 
by " secular " agents, or by friars paid by the government, 
is to select a site within fifty or one hundred miles of the 
villages of the tribe, and erect the desired buildings. Then, 
when all is ready, the agents repair to the villages and try 
to secure a number of boys, either by making presents of 
knives and beads to the parents, or by kidnapping the chil- 
dren. This latter method was pursued with the Karaya, 
for the parents refused to part with their children for any 
consideration. The friars are opposed to having the entire 
families of the Indians live near their schools. But, on the 
other hand, they do desire the mixed Portuguese speaking 
multitude — the ignorant, superstitious, immoral, rum-drinking 
people — called " the civilized ones," to " live at their feet." 
These people are more profitable to the friar than the Indians, 
for they give him much money to perform various priestly 
functions. But the primitive people have no money; nor have 
they learned to value these priestly services. Therefore, 
when the " school " is organized, the young savage, besides 
hearing the doctrine taught, has ample opportunity to see 
it exemplified. 

I stayed with a private family at Leopoldina while waiting 
to descend the river. In the meantime, I occupied myself 
going among the people, reading God's message to them and 
talking with them. I had many interesting and enjoyable ex- 
periences. I heard, long afterward, that the village black- 
smith, with whom I had talked and left a Bible, was reading, 
or having it read to him daily, and was literally devouring 
it. It was the joy of his life. He would often exclaim with 
emotion as he listened to the reading. " Great is Jehovah ! " 
Perhaps few who read these lines can understand the great 
worth of this Book to this sincere man in his declining years, 
dwelling at this remote, forsaken and forgotten spot, rarely 
reached by the fewest printed lines of any kind. 

Another man, a visitor from up the river, was ill, and 
wished me to suggest a remedy for him. I thought that if 
he would forsake his vices, he would probably regain his 

60 





A Karaya. 



A Patagonian Indian Chief. 




See Chapter vi. 



Seen in the Streets of Bahia. 



Brazil 

health. So I gave him a Bible and had a long talk with him. 
He said to me, " I am a Catholic, not a Republican," and 
displayed the coat of arms of the Brazilian monarchy tattooed 
on one wrist, a heart thrust with arrows on the other, and 
the initials of the heir to the throne over the spot where he 
thought his heart should be. Though steeped in vice, he 
thought himself a good man and an heir of heaven. He was 
astonished when I read to him some verses from God's Word ; 
especially when I read Gal. V. 19-21, for he crossed himself 
in alarm. Once, he said he did not believe there was a Devil, 
or a hell — that the man himself was the Devil. I replied 
that this might be true in some cases. 

I found the people of Leopoldina extremely poor. One of 
the leading men, who was intelligent and industrious, got 
a Bible from me. Days having passed without his handing 
me the thirty cents asked for the book, the fact was dis- 
closed that he did not possess even this much money, but had 
hoped to get it in payment for somework. Failing to get 
it, he returned the book ; but I, apprised of the situation, 
made him retain the book. Scarcely any currency was in 
circulation. So they bartered : any one needing rice traded 
beans for it, or gave a fishhook in exchange for some line. 
They tried to sell me old jewelry and other junk in order 
to realize some cash. 

One day, I went fishing on the Araguaya with the Cherentes 
in a big canoe. It was an experience which afforded me 
keen pleasure, and of which I shall always cherish lively 
memories. Everything was strange and wonderful to me; — 
my unusual companions and our boat ; the great, red torrent 
of the river into which many streams were vomiting logs, 
brush heaps and other debris, that, falling into line, moved 
down the river in a long, solemn procession; the tropical 
surroundings of the river ; the angling for large fish ; the many 
great beasts that I saw sporting in the water, and lastly, the 
flocks of birds of flaming plumage that stocked the air. 

At length, the day came to begin our long, strange voyage 
down the river. We had secured for the purpose three canoes. 

61 



Brazil. 

The largest, which carried the bulk of our effects, was made 
by heating a big dugout over the fire, spreading it, then 
building side planks on this foundation, and roofing the stern 
half with palm-branches. The second canoe was merely a 
big dugout; while the third was a small dugout with which 
to run about and fish. It required much skill to stow our 
voluminous baggage in the canoes. 

The embarkation was a regal event to the people of 
Leopoldina. The entire population, dressed in festal attire, 
came down to the river to see us off. I thought my com- 
panions would never get through leave-taking; there was 
almost no end of conversing and embracing. Our party con- 
sisted of the teacher and her son, her black cook and half- 
breed Chavante attendant, the five Cherentes, and myself. 
We had also twelve dogs and pups which some one fancied 
we would need. Some days later, we added to our crew two 
black men and three Karaya Indians. We had no need of 
so many men ; but they assisted mightily to devour our limited 
supply of provisions. 

At last, all was ready for the pomp and pageantry of the 
embarkation ; and pushing off, we swung out into the cur- 
rent in the presence of a numerous company, amid the firing 
of guns, the bursting of dynamite rockets, the blowing of 
bugles and horns, the yelling and cheering of the people, and 
the barking and yelping of the dogs. This is a characteristic 
Brazilian way of doing things. Considering the character and 
conduct of our company, we were very far from being a mis- 
sionary party, I much regret to confess. Moreover, I saw with 
dismay, after we had cast off, that the canoe men had been 
supplied with cachaca, the native rum, and were intoxicated; 
worse, that there was a demijohn of the brutalizing liquid 
in the second canoe. So, the navigating we did was scarcely 
more intelligent than that of a rotten log. The alcoholized 
men paddled and splashed wildly about, yelling continually 
in mad glee ; while our cargo of dogs, appearing to really 
understand the seriousness of the situation, howled a dirge. 
We were in great danger of being thrown upon the rocks and 

62 



Brazil 

wrecked. Meanwhile, we were borne swiftly onward in the 
embrace of the mighty, silent river, amid ever-changing pic- 
tures painted by the hand of God — of Nature arrayed in her 
gorgeous new robes of spring and solemnly adoring her 
Creator. Finally, a thunderstorm burst upon us ; and after 
floundering about for a time, we landed at a cattle ranch on 
the Matto Grosso side of the river, where we remained until 
the next day. 

This region is almost a Garden of Eden. All kinds of 
live-stock can be raised without other expense than a minimum 
of labor. The soil is so rich that a vast variety of fruits, 
such as oranges, lemons, bananas and the like, can be produced 
with little care ; while many wild fruit and nut bearing trees 
could be transplanted to a spot within reach of the dwelling 
where they would continue to bear five, ten or one hundred 
years without cultivation. Wild game, such as deer, pigs, 
pacas and tapirs, abound in the neighboring forests, while the 
river teems with many kinds of fish. A comfortable dwelling 
can be erected without other expense than a small outlay of 
labor ; and little clothing is needed. The sun is hot, it is true, 
but the breezes are refreshing and the nights are cool. 
Truly, God has made this a wonderful world, and there is 
no limit to the good things He has prepared to promote the 
happiness of His creatures. 

The second day of our voyage was delightful. Earth and 
sky united to produce enchanting scenes. The river, placid 
as a sea of glass, reflected like a mirror the primeval forests 
that adorned its banks and seemed like a path of glory; 
while at mid-day, a solemn and awe-inspiring hush prevailed. 
As no trace of human life was visible for many hours, we could 
imagine ourselves the first arrivals at a new world. 

Having paddled several hours and being at the same time 
swept onward by the current, we landed to visit two huts 
near the river where dwelt Brazilian families. At the first, 
we were treated to excellent coffee, and given a watermelon — 
a fruit I had not thought of finding here. It grows in the 
sand on the river bottoms without cultivation beyond plant- 

63 



Brazil 

ing the seed. I gave our kind host a Testament, which was 
gratefully received. The second family gave us permission 
to levy upon their patch of melons and pumpkins further down 
the river. This was a valuable addition to our scant supply 
of food. At evening, we landed at a rude abode where we 
were to take on a dozen or more sacks of manioc meal for 
food while passing through the savage world. This dwelling 
was merely a roof of palm branches supported upon four 
posts planted in the ground with one corner fenced off as a 
" private apartment " for the family. 

What a remarkable scene was presented as our little flo- 
tilla arrived! Everything animate came out, apparently, to 
greet us ; — men, women and children — the color of the ground 
— and dogs, pigs and fowls. Our contingent of dogs, added 
to the resident animals, constituted a menagerie of no mean 
proportions. As the evening meal — dinner — was being pre- 
pared, the squeels and yelps of hungry pigs and dogs, as 
they fought, and were kicked for attempting to devour our 
food while it was cooking, caused a continual uproar. 

We delayed here three clays while our men helped to 
prepare the manioc or cassava meal. The manioc is a large 
root almost entirely starch, with a woody fibre running 
through it. Two kinds are commonly met with in Brazil, 
the domestic and the " wild," though both are cultivated. 
It is propagated by planting small sections of the trunk of 
the little tree that grows from the root. The " wild " variety 
grows much the largest, becoming two feet long and five or 
six inches thick when it can grow throughout the year un- 
injured by frost. This kind is deadly poison ; but when the 
sap, or liquid, is pressed out the poison seems to go with 
it. The " domestic " kind contains no poison, and may be 
boiled and eaten like ordinary potatoes. To make the manioc 
meal, the black skin, or bark, is scraped off, then the root is 
grated, like horse-radish, into a wooden trough ; next the 
.juice is removed by subjecting the mass to a heavy pressure, 
and it is finally kiln dried. The contrivance used to press 
out the liquid is very rude. The grated manioc is put into a 

64 



Brazil 

large dugout trough near a tree, then a rough slab of wood, 
fitting loosely into the trough, is placed upon the manioc, 
and upon this again still other large blocks of wood are built 
up, all of which become the fulcrum for a heavy beam, the 
base of which is secured in a mortice in the before mentioned 
tree ; and lastly, heavy weights are piled upon the outer end 
of the beam. The meal is dried by placing thin layers of it 
upon an elevated surface, like a huge griddle, under which 
is a light fire, then stirring it with a wooden hoe. 

I saw here, near the dwelling, a valuable fruit tree with 
hollow limbs in which five or six species of wild honey bees 
had established themselves. There are a great many kinds 
of wild bees in Brazil, but none of them, I understand, has 
a sting; and what is still more remarkable, all, or nearly all, 
make acid honey — or sour honey, as we commonly say. It 
is used as a drink, which is much prized, by mixing one 
part honey to five or six parts water and sweetening it 
with sugar. The expression, " sweet as honey," would be 
meaningless to many Brazilians. That honey needs to be 
sweetened with common sugar appears strange indeed. 

At length, all the manioc meal we needed, or could carry, 
was made and stowed into the canoes, and we resumed our 
voyage. I was astonished at the great quantity of this food 
stuff we were taking with us. Our canoes were loaded to 
the water's edge with it, and we seemed to have sufficient 
to feed half a dozen horses a month. But as we journeyed, 
and I saw the tremendous eating capacity of our Cherente, 
Karaya. and Brazilian canoe men, I was convinced that we 
had none too much of the meal. These men seemed never to 
reach their limit — if they had a limit— for they always con- 
tinued to eat as long as there was anything to levy upon. 
Their common dinner " plate " — or trough — was a large pan 
with a capacity of over half a bushel. Around this they all 
squatted, as it rested upon the ground, and devoured, a few 
with iron spoons, and the others with nature's five-tyned 
forks, gathering the food into large balls and tossing it into 
their mouths. One day, a large, fish-eating bird, called a 

5 65 



Brazil 

manguary, was shot, which filled our largest pot while cook- 
ing. When it was done, our men filled their bushel " plate " 
half full of manioc meal and poured the pot of game, with 
the liquid, over it. Just as they finished devouring this 
mountain of food, two of our party, who had gone fishing, 
returned with two very large fish ; and " to save the fish 
from spoiling," they at once prepared and boiled a big pot 
of it, poured the mess over another half bushel of manioc 
meal, and soon this second heap of food disappeared also. 

Fortunately for us, the annual rise of the river was late 
this year, therefore the praias — extensive sand bars — were still 
exposed. We needed these places to camp upon at night, 
as it was difficult or dangerous to sleep in the forest on the 
main land because of insects, reptiles and wild beasts. The 
mosquito tribes are highly developed in the tropics, for they 
have the whole of every year in which to perfect themselves. 
Some varieties, called " powder " by the Brazilians, are 
mere specks and can fly through ordinary mosquito netting. 

Many large and interesting creatures live in the Araguaya 
river. The lontra is the king of the river. It is a kind of 
river dog, or fresh-water seal. Its body is about five feet in 
length and it has four very short legs. It subsists entirely 
upon fish; but it lands on the beach to wander about, and 
bears its young in a hole which it digs in the bank of the 
river. When it pokes its head above water while in the 
river, it appears to be an enormous bull dog. I must con- 
fess that I was not a little startled when the head of one 
appeared above the water close to where I was about to go 
in bathing, as I had never seen the creature, nor knew of its 
existence. 

Another interesting creature is the fresh-water dolphin, 
called a bouto — stub nose. It is a slate-colored carnivorous 
mammal which attains a length of ten feet, and a weight of six 
hundred or a thousand pounds. Its head resembles that of the 
hippopotamus ; but it has no legs, and cannot leave the water. 
These beasts are very numerous in the Araguaya, or where 
fish are abundant, for I have seen as many as three pairs 

66 



Brazil, 

within fifty or one hundred yards ot our canoe diving for 
fish and rising to the surface every moment to blow, whale- 
like. They can be captured only with a harpoon, but are 
rarely killed voluntarily by either the civilized or savage na- 
tives, though their fat is known to yield an excellent oil for 
lamps, for there is no animal in the Amazon region that is 
the subject of so many fables as this creature. The super- 
stitious people believe that blindness would result from the 
use of this oil in lamps. One fable represents the bouto as 
a kind of mermaid, or siren; and is to the effect that it once 
had the habit of assuming the form of a beautiful woman 
with hair hanging loose to her heels, and coming ashore at 
night and walking through the streets of a village to entice 
the young men down to the water. If any one was so much 
smitten as to follow her to the water's edge, she grasped him 
around the waist and plunged beneath the waves with a 
triumphant cry. A man told me that if a human being were 
drowning in the river and a bouto should be near, it would 
succor him and bear him to land. 

Fresh-water turtles exist in vast numbers in the Amazon 
region. They reach a great size in the upper Amazon, a full- 
grown specimen measuring nearly three feet in length by 
two in breadth. Its flesh is prized by both the " civilized " 
and the savage peoples living by the river. The eggs also 
are valued, scores of millions of which are gathered each 
season. Oil is extracted from these eggs, tens of thousands 
of gallons of which have been exported annually. Each turtle 
produces about one hundred twenty eggs every year. They 
issue from the river at the dead of night, when all is still, 
and making excavations two or three feet deep in the sand, 
turtle after turtle deposits its eggs in the same pit until it 
is full. The eggs are slightly larger than a hen's egg, are 
perfectly round, and have a flexible, leathery shell. To pre- 
pare them for eating, Brazilians boil them thirty minutes, then 
mix them with corn meal. 

Alligators also infest in vast numbers the Amazon system 
of rivers. Indeed, they exist in myriads in some streams so 

67 



Brazil. 

that " it is scarcely an exaggeration to say that the waters 
of the Solimoens are as well stocked with large alligators in 
the dry season, as a ditch in England is in summer with 
tadpoles." 

The anaconda, (eunecetes murinus) or great water serpent, 
is another interesting creature. It has been known to reach 
a length of forty-two feet, and to girt four feet. Its greatest 
thickness is about half way between its head and tail, from 
which point it gradually tapers both ways. Some Brazilians 
eat the flesh of this creature. 

A fish that interested me is the sting-ray, which looks like 
a huge, animated pancake. It is ten or twelve inches broad, 
three inches thick, and almost entirely limbless. Its nose 
projects only slightly, and it has a stub tail about three inches 
long armed with a poisonous spine. There are two holes on 
the upper side of the pancake for eyes, while the mouth is 
a slit on the under side. It swims very rapidly by an undu- 
lating motion of its rim. Near evening every day, these 
fish bury themselves in large numbers in the half floating mud 
near the edge of the water to feed, apparently ; and if a 
bather should tread upon one, it will plunge its spur into 
his ankle instantly, causing a painful wound, difficult to heal. 
The Brazilians call the fish lightning. Its flesh is coarse and 
tough, and unfit for human food. It is very annoying to a 
fisherman when it bites his hook, for it seems to be endowed 
with nine lives, requiring a long time to die, and he dare 
not handle it because of the spur. 

Another small, but dangerous fish, is the piranha. These 
fish exist in shoals in deep spots in the river sheltered from 
the current. They are never more than a foot in length, 
have a fearful array of sharp teeth, and are terribly voracious. 
A line dropped where they are, baited with a bit of meat, 
will have scarcely touched the water when a whirring sound 
will be heard and one of them will be on the hook and thou- 
sands more trying to get on. No one ventures to bathe where 
they are, for he might be fearfuly lacerated before escaping 
from the water. 



68 



Brazil 

The largest fish in the river are eight or ten feet in length 
and encased in an armor of big scales. Still other fish will 
be mentioned later. 

After a five o'clock dinner one afternoon, we cast off again 
in order to take advantage of the current during the early 
part of the night. How strangely beautiful and romantic were 
the scenes that encircled us as we were borne quietly along 
on the bosom of the mighty, silent, placid flood and the 
shadows of night, pursuing the fleeing day, stole slowly over 
us ! The boundless forest on both sides of the river, stand- 
ing, or kneeling down into the water, seemed a vast guard 
of honor presenting arms, or two grand armies standing at 
attention. At length, calm and solemn night enveloped us 
in her sombre mantle. Two hours later, the full moon arose 
like a Queen of Glory in all her splendor, and radiated a 
flood of brilliant, delicious light that glorified river and forest 
and transfigured the savage world through which we were 
silently moving like spectres. I felt like exclaiming in the 
words of the Psalmist, " Praise ye him, sun and moon : Praise 
him all ye stars of light ! " 

Soon, we reached a little hamlet called Sao Jose, that at 
the time of our visit, was in an advanced state of decay. 
This was the last outpost of " civilization," and the few people 
who lived here were cut off from the rest of the world and 
barely managed to eke out an existence. As I was sitting in 
our canoe one evening while we tarried here, some large 
fish heads that had been lying on the beach were thrown into 
the water; and the instant they struck the water, several 
fish one to two or more feet in length shot out of the water 
in the vicinity and glided, or ricochetted over the surface in 
every direction. They were frightened, apparently, by the 
large heads. We bought a fat cow here for three dollars and 
fifty cents and salted the meat down ; but as the curing was 
not properly done, we finally lost the meat. 

We found a small group of the Karaya living at Sao Jose. 
We met the Karaya for the first time just before arriving 
here. They interested me greatly. Doubtless I appeared no 

69 



Brazil 

less strange to them than they did to me. Charles Darwin 
describes the deep feelings he experienced when he found him- 
self face to face for the first time with primitive man. I, 
too, can never forget the hour when I first gazed upon man 
in his primitive state. The memory of it will ever remain 
vivid, and as one of the most interesting experiences of my 
life. One could easily imagine, at first, that he belonged to a 
lower order of creatures than the homo sapien. If so, better 
acquaintance soon revealed him to be truly a man in every 
respect — a true human soul, though far from God in the 
jungles of ignorance and superstition — one of the lost ones 
whom Christ came to seek and to save. 

The men were entirely nude, and painted from head to foot 
a dull, yellowish red with a mixture of fish oil and the fruit 
of the burity-palm. The women were painted like the men, 
but wore an item of covering made of a strip of inner bark 
eight feet long and ten inches broad. It is passed around the 
body and between the legs, and hangs down in front like an 
apron. At a distance, it resembles a strip of brown canvas. 
It is beaten and worked, when taken from the tree, until it 
has some degree of flexibility. Nevertheless, it must be un- 
comfortable to wear. 

A Karaya died while we were detained at Sao Jose. We 
were made aware of the event by the incessant howling, 
wailing and loud lamentations of the female relatives of the 
deceased. Visiting the hut of mourning at dawn, we found 
the family busy decorating the corpse for burial by gumming 
rings of white feathers around the limbs, wailing and chant- 
ing as they worked. Afterward, the body was rolled in the 
palm-leaf mat which had been the bed of the deceased during 
life, placed in a canoe, and taken down the river to the tribal 
cemetery. Karaya funerals will be more fully described in 
future pages. 



70 



Chapter VII. 

LIFE IN THE SAVAGE WORLD.— JUNGLE DINNERS. 

—SYLVAN DORMITORIES.— MIDNIGHT 

ADVENTURES. 

Leaving Sao Jose, we entered an altogether savage world, 
encountering not a vestige of " civilization " again for six or 
seven hundred miles. We often journeyed part or all of 
the night, allowing ourselves to be borne along by the cur- 
rent. But I soon found traveling by night very dangerous, 
especially while we were in the upper part of the river, for 
there were many obstructions in the river; and the pilot, 
who was supposed to keep a sharp lookout so as to arouse 
the oarsmen when danger threatened, often fell asleep, with 
the result that both our lives and our property were im- 
periled. Frequently, as we floated quietly onward in the 
darkness and stillness of the night, we were suddenly thrown 
into intense excitement because threatened with destruction. 
But, we never suffered any harm. An unseen Power was 
caring for us, notwithstanding the carelessness of our canoe 
men. 

As our beef spoiled, we had to depend upon fish and game 
for our meat, which we never lacked, usually having an 
abundance. As regards fish, it was much to our advantage 
that the river was still low. When it rises above its banks 
and submerges the contiguous country, which it does in 
places many miles inland, it is difficult to catch fish; one 
reason being that the fish now find a great abundance of food. 
We fished every day with hook and line as we floated along 
with the current, and usually caught very large fish — so 

71 



Brazil 

large, indeed, that one was sometimes sufficient to make two 
meals for our entire party, notwithstanding our enormous 
eating capacity. 

One day, I witnessed a new use for tobacco. A large fish 
having been hooked, and played until nearly exhausted, was 
drawn gradually alongside the canoe ; then the angler, having 
masticated a big lump of tobacco, injected it into the mouth 
of the fish, causing it to stiffen instantly, with the tail slightly 
curved, in which condition, it was easily drawn into the 
canoe. If tobacco will paralyze a fish, can it fail to injure 
the human consumer? 

As there were many kinds of water and tree fowls along 
the river, we dined frequently upon game. At other times, 
wishing a still greater assortment of food, and to enjoy the 
chase, we disembarked for a few hours to hunt deer, pigs, 
tapirs and the like. One morning, a nice pig having been 
taken in the thicket near the edge of the river, we landed 
on the first sand-bar for breakfast. Getting ashore, a few 
of our men set to work at once to prepare the pig, while the 
others watched the operation, each one evidently thinking 
of making a good meal, and the part he would select for his 
portion. The repulsive turkey-buzzards — the scavengers of 
South America — getting wind promptly of what was occur- 
ring, came to observe with an anxious, give-us-the-tripe look, 
and flopped and jumped about awkwardly, like sack racers, 
their constantly increasing numbers forming a black ring 
around us. Our colony of dogs, also, stole quietly about seek- 
ing an opportunity to levy upon something. Soon, the pig 
was cleaned and each of us chose his favorite part. The 
scene presented was amusing: One man, having roasted 
the liver at the camp fire, was eating it with a relish ; another, 
was stewing the heart; two others were roasting the hams 
with much solicitude, thinking of the feast they would have 
slicing and eating from them momentarily during the rest 
of the day and evening as they paddled, or floated onward in 
the canoes. The little, old Karaya captain, recently added to 
our crew as a pilot, had cheated the buzzards of the tripe and 

72 



Brazil. 

was baking it; a Cherente had chopped up the head and was 
stewing it, his appetite gaining in strength every moment. 
I contented myself with two slices of steak which I empaled 
on a spit and broiled. 

These pigs subsist entirely upon wild fruits and vege- 
tables, and the meat is excellent, especially if the animal is 
young. They have no layer of fat under the skin, as does the 
domestic pig. Some varieties roam about singly, while others 
go in herds of one or two hundred. 

When an enemy approaches one of these herds, the alarm 
is given and they instantly arrange themselves in the form of 
a crescent, so Brazilian hunters say, and advance to the 
attack tossing their tusks constantly from side to side, 
grunting and snuffing, and emiting a disgusting odor. If the 
enemy does not quickly make his escape, he will be mangled. 
Jaguars always skulk near these swine bands, for they have 
but to steal up and seize a pig whenever they wish to dine. 
It is said that these great cats know well the danger of an 
attack by the pigs, so act discreetly. When one is hungry 
for pork, he conceals himself close to the line of march of the 
swine, lying in wait until the entire herd files past; then, as 
the last pig is passing, he springs suddenly upon it, breaks 
its neck, drops it, and scrambles up a tree. The unfortunate 
pig of course utters a squeel of alarm when seized, so its 
companions at once form in battle array and advance upon 
the foe. Soon, they encircle the spot where the victim lies 
dead, but seeing no enemy, they again form into line and 
move on. The jaguar, then descends and enjoys a quiet meal. 

As we journeyed, we passed splendid grazing lands that 
appeared like beautiful meadows ; next, we saw what resem- 
bled pretty apple orchards ; then charming parks ; then groves 
of shade trees where we almost expected to see a farmer's 
house ; and finally, tracts of dense forest where the branches 
of the huge, spreading trees were heavily and elegantly draped 
and festooned with enormous masses of climbing vines. One 
of the many things that attracts one's attention in the Bra- 
zilian forest is the great extension of the branches of the trees, 

73 



Brazil 

for they frequently appear to reach out from the trunk 
seventy or eighty feet. 

We often disembarked at some charming arboreal palace 
to prepare and eat our food, for, on the sand-bars, we could 
not always obtain fuel, and were, moreover, exposed to the 
blistering heat of the sun. At such times, when we were 
not troubled by insects, we enjoyed a delightful picnic, with 
which our jungle banquet was in keeping. Occasionally, 
we were forced to pass the night in the forest. Late one 
afternoon, we disembarked in the forest for dinner; but be- 
fore we had finished our repast, a storm broke and darkness 
closed in quickly upon us — darkness, too, that could almost 
be felt, obliging us, finally, to grope our way among the trees 
as if we were blind. It was unsafe to reembark, so we hastily 
pitched our tents while we could still see a little. I swung 
my hammock in my tent, and our motley company of canoe 
men stretched themselves side by side on the ground, forming 
a human carpet, over which I was suspended, like judgment. 
The dripping of the rain on our canvas house, the moaning 
and sighing of the wind through the forest, and the inces- 
sant rumble and boom of the thunder, were the only sounds. 
Soon, the strata of humanity on the ground was snoring 
loudly, undisturbed even by the bats that bled them on 
the toes. Some time after high night, because of the still- 
ness, I gradually became conscious of the fact that the storm 
had ceased, then that the snoring also had ceased, succeeded 
by a continual slapping, for the mosquitoes had come in clouds 
and filled our tent, now that there was no rain or wind. " Let 
us go outside ! " exclaimed Sepe, the Cherente, to his com- 
panions, and the tent was promptly vacated by all but my- 
self. They imagined they would be free from the little pests 
in the open air, for, having filled a tent or a house, they tor- 
ment the occupants all night long, whereas, in the open air, 
they are in motion but a short time. This time, however, 
there were myriads of mosquitoes outside the tent as well 
as in ; and again Sepe called out, addressing me, " Shall we 
not go away from here at once ? " I replied in the affirmative, 

74 



Brazil 

for to sleep was impossible; and though the darkness was 
still so gross that we had to feel our way down to the river, 
we struck camp, tumbled everything into the canoes, then 
casting ourselves into the arms of the great, silent flood, 
were swept rapidly away. 

We saw the tracks of the tapir everywhere, but did not 
have the good fortune to capture one while on the Araguaya. 
They always make for the water at full speed when alarmed, 
remaining below the surface a surprising length of time. 
When the jaguar springs upon the back of the tapir and tries 
to break its neck, he sometimes fails, for its neck is short, 
very thick and strong. It rushes madly toward the river at 
such times, dashing among the trees and through the dense 
underbrush, bolting under fallen trunks and bumping against 
some in a manner most unpleasant for its ferocious rider, 
so that he is usually glad to seize the first opportunity to 
dismount. The jaguar is known to have been killed in one 
of these wild stampedes, its neck being broken in collision 
with a tree. I have heard of such a horse and rider tearing 
through an encampment and among hammocks occupied by 
sleeping men. 

We were often entertained at dawn by monkeys roaring 
their morning anthem. The great volume of sound seemed 
to indicate that there were a dozen of these vocalists and that 
they were a mile distant from us, when, in truth, there were 
but two and they only a quarter or half a mile distant. There 
are thirty or forty varieties of monkeys in the Brazilian 
forests, most of which will doubtless never be seen in zoo- 
logical parks, for they cannot live in captivity, not even in 
their native land. We frequently saw colonies of one kind 
or another climbing about among the tree-tops, or sitting on 
their haunches observing us. 

One day, we sighted far down the river in advance of us, 
what appeared to be two lines of soldiers drawn up at the 
water's edge. Studying the objects with a field glass, we 
found them to be a line of giant storks standing at the 
margin of the river waiting to seize their breakfast of fish. 

75 



Brazil 

They are as tall as a man, and, standing in line, their uniform 
black heads, white breasts and long, black legs, gave them a 
decidedly military appearance. The reflection in the water 
gave the illusion of a double line. I believe this is the larg- 
est bird that flies. It must have a long, clear space or it 
cannot rise. From standing humped up, like a goose on a cold 
day, it takes a few hesitating steps, then several determined 
strides, then breaks into a run, followed by a long series of 
big jumps and flapping of its huge wings, until, finally, it 
gets clear of the ground. 

As we were borne along at night where the river was 
broad and deep and free of obstructions, all slept, or tried to 
sleep, excepting one or two watchers. My improvised bed 
in our large canoe was made of a large, square tin can, the 
side of a big tin wash-basin and the half of a gourd shell. 
My companions reclined on similar beds. 

One obscure night, as we moved silently onward, like a 
giant phantom, we descried a light some distance ahead and 
heard Karaya shouting to us from a sand island. Fearing 
that they might not be friendly, and because of the darkness, 
our first thought was to pass on and not land where they 
were. But a moment later, we discovered that they were 
a friendly fishing party ; so we went ashore. As we drew 
near to land, our Karaya pilot, Pedro Monco, sang one of 
their familiar tribal songs. It was of a joyful strain, though 
extremely peculiar, suggesting, somewhat, the running and 
bleating of a deer, tl is usually sung for the purpose of an- 
nouncing to those on shore that visitors are arriving, that 
they are friendly, and that they are happy to meet their 
friends on land. Our trumpets were also sounded, and I 
played a hymn on the cornet. Our arrival appeared to give 
the fishing party much pleasure. The first thing they asked 
for was manioc meal and fish hooks. They were all in nature's 
dress, except the captain of the band, who wore a blanket. 
Soon after we disembarked, which was past midnight, a 
Karaya appeared with what resembled a skinned cat, and 
placed it over the fire to broil. "What is this?" I inquired. 

76 



Brazil 

" Monkey." 

" What are you going to do with him? " 

" Eat him — me like him much." 

" How did you catch him? " 

" Me shoot him with an arrow." 

Continuing our voyage at dawn, Ave encountered before 
noon another cluster of Karaya huts on a sand island. Before 
we could get to shore, the natives ran out into the water 
to meet us, and surrounding our canoes, eagerly offered us 
balls of black beeswax and pottery in trade for what they 
supposed we had. It was amusing to see a Karaya couple 
trying to make a trade with our only woman voyager for a 
man's gauze undershirt. I could not but think of how the poor 
savage would appear with only that shirt on. He wanted it, 
he motioned, to shield himself from the cold at night, and 
from the flies by day. 

We passed the next night at another group of huts on 
the sand. These Karaya who were very cordial, were expect- 
ing us for the news of our approach had preceded us ; 
so they gave us a royal welcome. The mayor of the city — 
the chief of the local horde — appeared arrayed in a complete 
suit of civilian's clothes, consisting of white linen trousers 
and vest, black coat and hat. These he wore merely as decora- 
tions, not as a covering, for these people consider themselves 
fully and properly dressed without any such apparel. It was 
a remarkable sight indeed to us to descry in the gloaming, 
as we approached the land, what appeared to be a well-dressed 
representative of advanced civilization entirely alone in a re- 
mote, howling wilderness, surrounded by nude and painted 
savages. He had obtained these garments somewhere from 
a trading boat. We were escorted in state to a large hut 
where were assembled all the human inhabitants of the 
island ; and after the reception, we witnessed the wrestling 
game of which the Karaya are very fond, which will be 
described fully in future pages. 

The same night, as I was sleeping soundly in the open 
air in my hammock, which was swung between two stakes 

77 



Brazil 

set in the sand with a ridge pole bound to them to hold them 
in position, I was rudely awakened with, " Arise, Mr. William ! 
It is raining ! " Truly, it was raining. So I draped my tent 
over the ridge pole above the hammock, but having no pins, 
I could fasten it open only slightly by piling sand on the 
edges. Wishing to protect our canoe men from the weather, 
I remarked to one or two that they might lie down inside, 
under the hammock. My back was turned for a moment, and 
when I again looked in under my canvas, I found the place 
packed with Karaya, Cherentes, Africans and Brazilians. This 
mass of humanity so contaminated the air that I finally slept 
with my head partly outside. 

The Karaya hovered about us in their canoes most of the 
time as we traveled. When possible, we avoided eating our 
meals at their encampments as we would have to share our 
food more or less with them, and our supply of rice and 
manioc meal was scarcely sufficient for our own requirements. 
Nevertheless a few of them usually contrived to appear among 
us while we were preparing our food. Late one afternoon 
as we disembarked for dinner, a cold, drizzling rain was fall- 
ing and no Karaya were in sight. But, they soon began to 
appear in twos and threes, as if they had scented us miles 
away, until finally, a dozen or more were standing around 
eyeing our boiling pots with hungry looks. The next object 
that attracted their curious attention after contemplating our 
dinner, was the young Karaya that had joined us as a paddler 
at Sao Jose. He took very kindly to the shirt and trousers 
given him, though he would slip out of them most uncere- 
moniously when he wished to drop into the water to secure an 
oar, for example, that had fallen overboard. At length, he 
was given a military overcoat with a hood, which he wore 
when there was rain. Therefore on the occasion just men- 
tioned, he stood near the fire as the twilight deepened, wear- 
ing the coat fully buttoned and having the hood drawn over 
his head, partly obscuring his face. The arriving Karaya 
seemed at a loss, at first, to determine just what it really was, 
except that a suspicious pair of brown feet and ankles pro- 

78 



Brazil 

truded below the coat. They eyed it carefully from head 
to foot, riveting their gaze for a moment on the feet, then 
slyly opened the hood a little to peer in; and when they saw 
the physiognomy of their savage brother with nearly all the 
paint wore off, grinning at them from away back in the dark, 
they were highly amused. 

A Karaya village we visited near the mouth of the Rio das 
Mortes — River of the Deaths — is so remote and out of touch 
with civilization that the inhabitants understand scarcely any- 
thing of the Brazilian language. Nor are they cordial to 
strangers, regarding them, instead, with suspicion, for the 
reason that they are subject to attacks by the Chavante In- 
dians who live up the Rio das Mortes. While we were 
calling here, one of the women sought to obtain a shirt from 
me for her young son. To make me understand what she 
wanted, she used the sign language, imitating one's move- 
ments when a mosquito bites one on the shoulder and he 
crushes it, the drawing on of a shirt, and the feeling of con- 
tentment that " mosquito no bite more." 

My umbrella aroused the curiosity of the savages wherever 
we went. Knowing that it opened somehow, one of them 
took it once and stood it point downward, apparently expect- 
ing it to open. As it did not do so, he passed it to me to show 
him and his companions how it worked. As I opened it sud- 
denly and it spread its wings, like some old, black goblin about 
to fly on an evil errand, the women uttered a low scream 
of fear and surprise. They often felt of my linen coat and 
trousers, and my shirt, then made signs to me that these ar- 
ticles were very good to protect one from the flies and 
mosquitoes. They evidently thought that this was my only 
reason for wearing clothes. They also fingered my hat and 
boots, and pulled my mustache to ascertain if it were real, 
or false, and gazed at me as I wrote my journals for writing 
was a mystery to them. To many of them I was a freak 
well worth going a long way to see. 

The Christmas season occurred while we were in the sav- 
age world of the Araguaya. What an extraordinary Christ- 

79 



Brazil. 

mas it was to me ! How almost infinitely removed it was from 
the situations and environments of former Christmas days ! 
I seemed to be a wanderer in a world wholly different from 
that which I had formerly known. The afternoon of Christ- 
mas day, we passed the principal mouth of the Rio das Mor- 
tes — a river with an uncanny name because of a sombre his- 
tory. It takes its name, I believe, from the fact that a party 
of explorers, while navigating the Araguaya in canoes long 
ago, were slain here by the savages. It is a great river, 
though almost unknown to the world, and drains a vast region 
that is almost wholly unexplored. While passing the outlet 
of this mysterious river, a storm burst upon us, and our 
large canoe, becoming unmanageable, was finally driven 
ashore. Darkness closing in rapidly we prepared and ate our 
Christmas dinner in the wind and rain at the edge of the 
forest. We had no expectation that Santa Claus would pene- 
trate the unknown, mysterious wildernesses that enveloped us 
to fill our stockings ; though a few of our party did fear that 
the tiger might come to us for his Christmas dinner. So 
we all slept under a large tree close around the fire. 

The next day, we visited a Karaya cemetery on top of a 
hill. As we entered the cemetery, I saw one of our Karaya 
canoe men, who had preceded us, standing over a nice water- 
melon that had grown there. I wondered why he did not eat 
it at once as they are fond of this fruit. But he would not 
touch it, nor would any of the Karaya, because it was a 
product of the cemetery, and intended, perhaps, as food for 
those who had gone to the shadow land. Two of our party 
did eat it, however, one of whom was myself. But I must 
acknowledge that it tasted unpleasantly like a Karaya smells. 
Our woman voyager declared that we had eaten the flesh of 
a defunct Karaya. Broken pottery was lying about in the 
cemetery together with skulls and other human bones ; while 
sunk into the ground or standing on the surface were large 
clay urns containing the osseous remains of dead Karaya. 
Pumpkins also were growing in the cemetery as well as 
melons. 



80 



Brazil. 

Returning to our canoes, we saw a wild fruit tree grow- 
ing close to the water — its habitat — the fruit of which the 
Brazilians call ardsa. It resembles a reddish plum, but has 
a double stone and is very acid. But it is a very wholesome 
fruit and would make, I imagine, an excellent sauce. The 
tree appears to be partly a climber, for the limbs, which are 
one or two inches thick, maintain a uniform size through- 
out their length, and coil around one another, serpent like. 
The river was now a mile or more broad and the navigation 
very open; so, wishing to take advantage of the current as 
much as possible, we reembarked after a five o'clock dinner 
one day and floated along quietly hour after hour in the 
obscurity until past midnight. Then, desiring to find a sand- 
bar on which to sleep until morning, we at last descried a 
gray outline and pulled for it. Happening to enter shallow 
water, we grounded before getting close to shore, and lost a 
pike overboard. But just as we were getting afloat again, 
we suddenly heard a shuffling sound coming from the shore 
close by; and looking that way, our hearts stood still as we 
beheld the dusky forms of thirty or forty naked and painted 
savages rushing down upon us fully armed with long war 
lances and heavy killing clubs, ready to scatter our brains on 
the beach. We now discovered that we were innocently at- 
tempting to land just above a portable Karaya village, the 
existence of which, at this place, was not known even to our 
pilot, Pedro Monco. Our creeping up here at the dead of 
night without giving any signals announcing who we were, 
and if we were friends or foes, had convinced the villagers 
that we were enemies. 

The situation in which we found ourselves was extremely 
critical for a few minutes. But the natives, seeing who we 
were, paused briefly, which gave us an opportunity to com- 
municate with them and explain matters, and also to make 
them some presents to pacify them. Our large canoe only was 
involved in this midnight adventure, the other having pulled 
up elsewhere for the night; so our party was small. Our 
canoe was drawn up on the sand, and the savage band stood 

6 81 



Brazil 

about us, fully armed, maintaining silence and appearing belli- 
cose. At length, the entire band drew off about fifty yards, 
then began to discharge volleys of blood-curdling yells, such 
as only wild men or maniacs can utter. Though we had 
heard these yells before, we did not know if it was " the 
shout of war," or only a challenge to the wrestling game. 
Greatly to our relief, it was the latter. We now knew that 
we were in no immediate danger; though we had felt that as 
they had not attacked us at first, they would now be loathe 
to do so openly. After the wrestling game, the savages grad- 
ually became friendly to us, and began, at last, to retire to 
their huts in twos and threes until only a few were near us. 
The hour was now three a. m., so wrapping my blanket about 
me, I stretched myself on the sand to sleep a little, though 
we could not feel sure that we would not be attacked for the 
sake of our baggage. A party of six Brazilians who were 
descending the Araguaya some months previous to the time 
of our trip, were clubbed to death near this place for their 
baggage. 

This was a night of experiences that we shall not soon 
forget. When we were first surrounded, one of our party, 
especially, acted very imprudently, though with good inten- 
tions: He blew a bugle endeavoring to call to our aid the 
other canoes which were really far distant from us. This 
calling for help could accomplish nothing, and but served to 
excite greater suspicion in the minds of the savages and 
precipitate an attack. I think I was as much frightened as 
any one, yet I saw that to retain self-command was far 
the wisest course to pursue. 

The sleep of these children of Nature is more like that of 
the other wild creatures of the woods than of human beings. 
The night is much the same as the day to them. They are 
up and down during the night, just as during the day, ever 
vigilant, and living in constant expectancy of the sudden 
appearance of an enemy. It is almost impossible to approach 
their encampment without their knowledge, though one move 
never so stealthily. 

82 



Brazil. 

Morning having come, the remainder of our flotilla soon 
appeared, and the Karaya became more and more friendly. 
We induced a few of them to go to their little cornfield across 
the river to get us some green corn and pumpkins. While 
awaiting their return, we were entertained by another exciting 
event. One of two or three Karaya men who were insane and 
haunted the wilds distant from the village, which they made 
an unwelcome visit to from time to time, suddenly appeared. 
Nearly all the men of the village were absent, having scattered 
off to hunt and fish, as is their custom. When the lunatic 
burst suddenly into view, the women and children were in- 
stantly stricken with panic. Amid wild shouting and scream- 
ing, chattering and jabbering, a grand rush was made for the 
canoes, of which there is one for each family; and as the 
women ran they caught up the children that were too young 
to care for themselves, and also grabbed up clay pots and 
other destructible objects, tumbled everybody and everything 
into the dugouts, then paddled frantically out into the stream. 
Soon, the mad savage came into the encampment, armed 
with a large bow and arrows and a heavy killing club ; and 
amused himself by entering the huts and emerging through 
the roof; or, entering by breaking through the roof and 
passing out through the established opening. And while 
going from hut to hut, he shattered clay pots and pans with 
a heavy blow from his club, besides slaying parrots and 
macaws in the same manner. As he took turns around the 
village, he shot his arrow again and again high in the air 
in advance, taking it up each time as he arrived where it fell. 
Seeing him doing this, and fearing that we might become a 
target for his archery, we followed the example of our savage 
brethren and pushed out into the stream. But he did not 
appear to take any notice of us, nor of any one, and seemed 
to be continually muttering and moaning. He did not stay 
long in the village but was soon swallowed up again in the 
forest, and the chattering, jabbering, excited horde in the 
canoes returned to shore. 



83 



Chapter VIII. 

THE KARAYA.— RECEIVING STRANGERS.— PER- 
SONAL ADORNMENT.— DOMICILES.— MEN- 
AGERIES.— FISHING AND HUNTING.— 
HUSBANDRY.— FOODS. 

The Karaya tribe is divided into three great divisions, or 
separate tribes, called the Yavahe, the Karayahy and the 
Sambioa, numbering in all about four thousand. Little is 
known of the Yavahe division except that they dwell in three 
villages, or encampments, by a large lake, or lagoon, in the 
unknown interior of the great Isle of Bananal, which is be- 
tween three and four hundred miles long and nearly one 
hundred miles broad, being formed by the two arms of the 
Araguaya river. The Yavahe lake has an outlet into the 
eastern arm of the Araguaya. In our descent of the Ara- 
guaya, we followed the western arm. 

The Yavahe, though hostile to civilized men, and de- 
termined to avoid all contact with " civilization," much de- 
sire, neverthless, to obtain the steel implements, such as 
axes, knives and grubbing hoes, which civilization alone can 
furnish them. Neither does the Sambioa branch wish to have 
any direct contact with " civilization " because they see 
plainly that their brethren of the Karayahy division, who live 
in touch with the " civilization " that exists in the interior of 
Brazil, and which we know to be semi-barbarous, immoral 
and superstitious, are in a worse plight, morally, socially and 
physically than they themselves are — that they are extremely 
poor and demoralized, and suffer from various diseases, con- 
tracted from " civilization," with which they themselves are 

84 



Brazil 

not afflicted. Therefore, they have hidden their villages far 
away from the slimy trail of the only " civilization " they 
know, and do not wish to reveal their location. But they, 
too, well know the great superiority of steel implements 
over their stone utensils, so desire to obtain them, which 
they do indirectly through the Karayahy. They are not un- 
wise in their generation. They do not desire to receive, in 
its entirety, the " civilization " available to them, for it has 
been demonstrated to them that its evils outweigh its bless- 
ings. Therefore they try to catspaw civilization's good 
things and leave its evil things. What a pity it is that a civ- 
ilization, which is the best fruit of the Gospel of Christ, 
should not have reached the Kafaya! 

The Sambioa live in much larger, cleaner, and more or- 
derly villages than the Karayahy, and are better fed. They 
also build better huts than the Karayahy, and arrange them 
in regular streets. They have four large villages, located be- 
tween Pau de Arco and the falls of S. Miguel. They trade 
hammocks, vegetables, fruits, fowls, and other produce for 
such articles made by civilized men as they desire. As re- 
gards agriculture, they are but little behind the semi-bar- 
barous Brazilians of the far interior. They have many slaves, 
which are women and children stolen from other tribes with 
whom they were at war. 

Only the inhabitants of the second Sambioa village are 
hostile to strangers. When such appear at their port, the 
women and children are sent to a safe place, while the war- 
riors, fully armed, assemble at the water's edge and assume 
a threatening attitude. It is necessary to be cautious in 
approaching them, though they dare not attack a large canoe 
full of men armed with repeating rifles. They greatly fear 
these weapons, believing that the rifleman can continue to 
fire indefinitely without reloading. The villages are always 
situated distant from the landing-place; and though they will 
allow the traveler to visit them, he must be on his guard. 

The reception at the landing is interesting and exciting. 
The naked, bronze-bodied men are assembled in force. Many 

83 



Brazil. 

of them are painted black and red, and have their faces daubed 
with a thick layer of black soot ; others wear upon their heads 
crowns made of beautiful feathers; while others again, have 
their hair braided and decorated with the brilliant crimson 
and gold feathers of the macaw. All are armed with spears 
beautifully decorated with feathers, and with bows and 
arrows and heavy killing clubs. They present quite a military 
spectacle. 

Disembarking, the first thing the visitors do is to show 
the savages their arms, especially the repeating rifles, which 
fill them with awe. The chief now hastens to declare that 
he and his people are friends of the white man, saying: " The 
Karaya is the friend of the 'white man; there is no lie with 
us," repeating this twice. Confidence established, some 
trading may be done without difficulty. Small children, and 
particularly, young girls, are very shy of the strangers, and 
usually creep into their huts and cover their faces with their 
hands. The visitor is never troubled by beggars, and rarely 
has anything stolen from him. 

The Karayahy division live along the main stream of the 
Araguaya between Sao Jose and Santa Maria in twelve or 
fifteen villages or encampments, one of which, near Santa 
Maria, was completely wiped out in 1881 by the 'Kayapo 
tribe. Their villages are not so clean as those of the Sambioa, 
nor are the huts so well constructed. 

Observing the speech of the Karaya, one can scarcely 
notice any movement of the lips ; nor do they seem able to 
repeat exactly a sentence just uttered. They have many 
sounds which they produce with the tongue and swallow the 
last syllable. Apparently, their speech is not related to any 
Brazilian aboriginal language. The most remarkable thing 
about it is that they have one dialect for the men and an- 
other for the women; though only a few words are entirely 
different, and with most of them there is but a slight, unim- 
portant change. 

Physically, the Karaya are one of the finest of the aborig- 
inal races of Brazil. They are of medium size, slender and 

86 



Brazil 

graceful, and their limbs are well balanced. Their proud 
bearing makes them appear larger than they really are. Their 
great muscular power, elasticity, and quickness of movement, 
is displayed to advantage in their wrestling games, which 
are their most loved sport. The muscles of the shoulders, 
especially, are highly developed in both sexes, because they 
have been trained from childhood to carry heavy weights 
on their backs, supported by a band which passes over the 
forehead. The eye-brow ridge is flat, giving the appearance 
of an open face, and the eyes are but slightly almond-shaped. 
The women are much smaller than the men, are well propor- 
tioned, and have pretty hands and feet. The bust of the 
younger individuals is perfect, but they soon lose their beauty 
of form. It is difficult to determine at first just what the 
color of their skin is. Living, as they do, in the glowing heat 
of the sun on the sand-bars, their skin, which is really a 
clear, yellow-brown color, is turned into a dark copper-brown. 
This clear yellow-brown is found only under their heavy 
armlets, wristlets and leglets. 

Many paint, or, more correctly, grease themselves from 
head to foot a red or black color, or both ; while others prefer 
brown, red and black. Sometimes a young warrior has him- 
self painted in such a fashion, that seen at a short distance, 
he appears to be wearing a black European cutaway coat 
buttoned at the top with one button ; while another has black 
rings painted around his brown body from his shoulders to 
just above the knees, giving him the appearance of being 
dressed in a bathing suit. Others, again, paint their faces 
black. But they like, best of all, to paint black lines on 
the faces and the extremities. The painting is done with a 
bit of wood, or with the fingers. Both sexes chop the hair 
off straight across over the forehead, leaving it in the form 
of " bangs," and allow it to drop down behind over the 
shoulders. It is straight, black and coarse, like a horse's 
tail. Many of the young men, corresponding to what we call 
" dudes," clip a path, an inch wide, like a very wide part, 
from the forehead back to the crown, and cut the hair of the 

87 



Brazil 

crown, leaving it two inches long and standing erect, pompa- 
dour fashion; while the back hair is braided neatly in a 
single braid, with a bunch of brilliant feathers fastened at 
the point, or it may be folded up in three or four folds and 
tied at the base of the head with a cotton string, to which 
is secured a bunch of long, bright feathers. 

The ears of both sexes are pierced in infancy, and they 
wear in them a reed six or eight inches in length and as large 
as a lead pencil, the greater length of which protudes toward 
the front and terminates in a bit of shell set in a rosette of 
crimson feathers. 

The males, and they only, have the lower lip bored. This 
is done in childhood, and is probably the initiation ceremony 
into the rights of citizenship or membership in the tribe, 
just as a civilian is initiated into a lodge, or a child of Roman 
Catholic parents ceases to be a " pagan " and becomes a 
" christian " by reason of the baptismal ceremony. A plug, 
or spile of piuva wood is inserted into this opening in the 
lip, which is made larger and larger as the individual grows, 
until it will admit the thumb. The elderly men who have 
ceased to care much for display, usually wear nothing in the 
lip but a plug, cut off short; but the "smart" young men 
wear an ornament some eight inches in length, flattened like 
a blade just below the lip. The small boys wear a flat piece 
of shell an inch or two long, and in the form of a T, the 
cross-bar of the T holding the ornament in position. A much 
prized lip ornament, which is worn only on festal occasions, 
and at other times kept wrapped in cotton and securely laid 
away, is a long, heavy piece of rose-colored quartz. The 
lip end of this also is T, or dagger-shaped, so that it may not 
fall out. It is seven inches in length, and conical at the lower 
end. The Karaya do not make these, but get them in trade 
from the Tupy. This ornament is, of course, very heavy, and 
one wonders how it is possible to wear it; for even the 
lightest of these lip ornaments cause the lip to hang down in a 
very ugly fashion. To drink when the plug is out, the open- 
ing must be closed with the fingers. 

88 



Brazil 

Both sexes have a blue ring tattooed under the eye, form- 
ing a deep ugly scar, which is the special distinguishing mark 
of the tribe. 

The Karaya take good care of the body, bathing many 
times each day — though this is more to cool and refresh them- 
selves, and for sport — keep the hair well combed, and pull 
out the sparse beard. They formerly used the teeth of the 
piranha fish as a kind of saw with which to cut the hair, but 
they now have scissors. 

As already stated, the men wear no clothing, or covering 
whatever. The sash, or apron, worn by the women, is made 
of the inner bark of the jangada tree. It is prepared for use 
by first soaking it a day or two in water, then pounding 
it with flat stones, and finally drying it. When the wearer of 
this primitive apron sits, she passes it back between the 
limbs and sits upon it. Besides this costume, both sexes 
wear various armlets, wristlets and leglets, as ornaments, 
which are peculiar to each division of the tribe. Soon after 
birth, the child's wrists and legs below the knees, are adorned 
with broad bands made by weaving together cotton cordage 
on the limbs themselves; while a black cotton band girts the 
body as a bandage. When the infant is a few months old, 
these articles are removed, and broad cotton wristlets, leg- 
lets and anklets are woven on the limbs, a tassel of cotton 
cords being attached to the leglets. The boys wear the leg- 
lets, or garterlets, until the lip is pierced, while the girls wear 
them until married. The wristlets worn by adults, cover 
nearly the whole forearm. They are not put aside until 
after marriage, and many females wear them until the first 
child is born. When one of the couple dies, the survivor 
puts the wristlets on again. This custom has come down 
from the ancients. As the wristlets and leglets are usually 
woven on the limbs themselves, they cannot be removed with- 
out being cut off. For this reason, they are never removed, 
nor washed until finally thrown aside. But I found the 
Karaya quite ready to cut these articles off and give them to 
me in exchange for some articles I had which took their 

89 



Brazil. 

fancy. Sometimes, however, these ornaments are woven on 
a wooden form. 

Another article of dress, which is peculiar to the Karaya, 
is the hammock. It is made of cotton cords. Strange to say, 
it is never used as a hammock ; nor can it even be swung up, 
as it is not provided with any cords for this purpose. It is 
only the body of a hammock. During the day, it is used as 
a kind of cloak, and is hooked over the head so as to cover 
the shoulders and back ; and at night, it is used as a mat to 
sleep upon, on the ground. Both adults and children may be 
seen going about during the day with these huge, half-open- 
pea-pod like objects hooked over them. It reminds one of 
a snail with its shell on its back. Even clay dolls have this 
hammock cloak. It is, however, occasionally fastened up 
like a hammock in order that it may be used as a cradle for 
an infant. 

This hammock is of great ethnological interest, because the 
primitive races of Brazil are classified ethnographically ac- 
cording to whether they sleep in a hammock or do not. It is 
known that all the tribes occupying the eastern half of Brazil, 
which includes the Karaya, sleep on the ground, or on slightly 
raised platforms made of poles ; while those that are really 
hammock using tribes — that sleep in hammocks — make their 
hammocks of cordage twisted from cotton and palm-leaf fibre. 
But the Karaya hammock is made of cotton only; moreover, 
it is not a complete hammock and is not used to sleep in. 
This proves that the Karaya are not to be classified as one 
of the hammock tribes. We are to understand, therefore, that 
they got the idea of the hammock comparatively recently from 
some other people, probably from the " civilized " Brazilians, 
who make them of cotton only; and though they value them, 
they are yet unwilling to give up their old custom of sleep- 
ing on the ground. A certain Brazilian explorer asserts that 
he taught the Karaya to make a simple loom and how to 
weave. 

Another article of dress used by the Karaya, is a kind of 
eye-shade, called an eye-umbrella. It is used to protect the 

90 



Brazil. 

eyes from the strong reflection of the sun on the sand-bars. 
When trading with travelers, they are eager to get blue or 
smoked glasses, or goggles. 

The Karaya live in a more advanced state than do some 
of the other tribes of the Amazon basin, especially the rough, 
nomadic peoples, who exist in small groups of a few families. 
They prefer to live in large groups containing hundreds of 
individuals, and in permanent habitations, constituting fixed 
villages or encampments. True, the Karaya living near San 
Jose, rove about somewhat in small parties during the dry 
season; but farther down the Araguaya, the encampments 
are more permanent and populous, numbering one hundred 
fifty to two hundred souls. During the rainless season when 
the river is low, they live on the sandy river bottoms, called 
praias. Here they set up their easily portable huts, in order 
to be convenient to their canoes and to the fishing grounds, 
and also to be more free from troublesome insects. 

The villages of the Karayahy division, in common with 
those of all other primitive peoples, are merely clusters or 
groups of huts, huddled together in complete disorder. Each 
hut is constructed by planting in the sand, fifteen or twenty 
feet apart, two parallel rows of saplings, then bending over 
each pair of opposites and tying them together. To these ribs 
are bound bamboo rods in a horizontal position, sipo — creepers 
— being used as cordage ; and upright poles are planted at the 
gables. Over this frame-work is bound the skin, or covering, 
which consists of giant, feather-like palm-branches. Sometimes 
plates, resting on forked posts, are used to further strengthen 
the frame. This dwelling, when completed, is shaped like 
the bottom of an inverted barge, and looks like a very squatty, 
ancient haystack, with a hole — the door — eaten in one end 
by cattle. 

Garbage, such as watermelon rinds, pumpkin skins, green 
corn cobs, and other fruit and vegetable refuse, is dumped 
just outside the hut. Here, the mass festers and stinks in 
the fierce rays of a tropical sun, and attracts swarms of 
insects, especially sand flies, that torment the nude savages 

91 



Brazil 

beyond endurance, compelling them, finally, to pull down 
their huts and move to a new site, perhaps to some other 
sand-bar. This is a case of moving the residence instead of 
the garbage. During the rainy season, or when the sand 
bottoms are submerged, which may not occur until two or 
three months after the rains begin, the Karaya dwell on the 
high banks of the mainland. Here, the huts are much better 
constructed, resembling the dwellings of " civilized " Bra- 
zilians. 

It is seldom one sees among primitive peoples, such sub- 
stantially constructed huts as those of the SambiSa division. 
Here is seen the greater industry, the greater activity, and 
the better condition in every respect of the free, unmolested 
sons of the wilderness in comparison with their " tame " 
brethren who exist in more destitute circumstances, though 
in contact with, and under the influence of the " civilized " 
people — the semi-barbarous Brazilians. The dwellings of 
the Sambioa are not placed in disorder, but are arranged in 
long rows, forming regular streets. " They make a favorable 
impression upon the visitor, because the streets appear clean 
and the huts orderly, comfortable and inviting." The four 
Sambioa villages each contain sixty, thirty, forty-five and 
ninety huts, respectively, and each hut is occupied by one or 
two, or more, families. 

The furniture in these primitive abodes is very simple. 
The floor, which is bare earth, is covered with matting made 
by braiding together the long, slender leaves of the burity- 
palm. The occupants sleep on this matting without any 
other bedding whatever, save a round billet of wood for a 
pillow upon which the neck rests, but not the head, Japanese 
fashion. From the plates, or roof supports, hang baskets of 
various forms and sizes, in which are kept the bright feathers 
that are used in decorative work and ornament making. Fin- 
ished ornaments and decorations made of brilliant feathers, 
pieces of regalia, bows and arrows in a finished and unfin- 
ished state, spear-throwing sticks and various small articles 
are also seen stuck into or suspended from the roof; while 

92 



Brazil 

clubs and lances, various kinds of clay pots and pans and 
gourd-shell vessels occupy the corners of the hut. 

A short distance from the encampment is the " Casa do 
Bicho," or medicine hut; or better yet, the Demon Hut. It 
is roofed and closed in on three sides only. The side facing 
away from the village is always left entirely open. The 
women of the tribe are not allowed to go near this hut, or 
to look into it. In front of two Sambioa villages, two dead 
kingfishers were secured to the top of a high pole, for the 
purpose, probably, of keeping away the demons. 

The Karaya have a few domestic, or domesticated crea- 
tures. These are considered members of the family, and live 
in and out of the family hut, and on equal terms generally 
with the people. These children of Nature are evidently lovers 
of Nature, and their mode of life can scarcely be conceived 
of without these creatures. The way they treat them in- 
dicates the idea they entertain regarding them and their do- 
ings — that they look upon them as their companions and 
equals. The feeling of companionship — even of relationship — 
with the animal world, is characteristic of the Karaya, and 
is evidenced by the way the animals are spoken of in their 
tribal legends, and by the fact that they have quite a treas- 
ury of animal fables. Although these people are successful 
in taming wild creatures, they have never made any economic 
use of them as have the civilized people. They are captured 
while still young, and reared, but for no purpose, in most 
cases, other than to be kept as pets and esteemed members 
of the families of their captors, where their presence seems 
to give much pleasure. They are seldom thought of as regards 
any material benefits they may confer. The only economic 
use that is made of any of these creatures, is of those that have 
bright-colored plumage, which is used in the making of the 
many feathered adornments that are so much admired by 
these primitive people. Nor are these animals permitted to 
multiply themselves, if this can be avoided. Some poultry 
is kept, which was obtained originally from the " civilized " 
Brazilians, and these, of course, multiply rapidly. But even 



Brazil 

these birds are regarded as members of the family, and no 
use is made of their flesh, nor even of their eggs. In recent 
years, however, the savages have begun to use them as an 
article of trade with passing canoes. The most important 
domestic animals possessed by the Karaya besides fowls, are 
dogs and cats, which are widely distributed. They have no 
pigs. This animal is raised by the Kaiapo tribe, who ob- 
tained it originally from the civilized people, and use it as 
an article of trade. A veritable menagerie, in which the 
various bird families figure prominently, may always be seen 
around the largest Sambioa villages. Many proud, magnifi- 
cently plumaged, and ever-watchful macaws are always seen 
clinging to the tops of bare poles near the huts like watchers 
in their towers, or roosting on the roof of the hut; and if 
anything strange should approach, be it man or beast, they 
give warning in deafening screams — especially when civilized 
men — men wearing clothes — appear. Dogs, also, where they 
have such, bark fiercely when civilized men appear. This 
kind of man seems so extraordinary to them. Our dogs, in 
turn, make a fearful fuss when they see savage men for the 
first time — not only because of their exceedingly strange ap- 
pearance, but also because of their odor. 

Other birds kept by the Karaya in order to get their 
feathers to make ornaments, are the military bird, small 
storks, black-headed giant storks, cranes, the glittering white 
ardea, the beautiful, pink-feathered spoon bill, various wild 
ducks such as the canoe beak, rheas, or emus, which are the 
South American ostrich, and wild chickens. Birds that do 
not become so much attached to the family that they would 
not fly away, are held captive by having their wings clipped, 
or a few feathers plucked out. Many of these birds are deco- 
rated artificially. Those having white feathers are dyed red, 
while others have small bunches of bright feathers attached 
to their wings. 

Some of the Brazilian Indians have a curious art by which 
they make nature change the color of the feathers of many 
of their captive birds. They jerk out the feathers they wish 

94 



Brazil 

to color, then inject into the wounds a milky secretion taken 
from the skin of small frogs or toads. Therefore, when the 
new feathers grow out, they are of a brilliant yellow or orange 
color, without any mixture of blue or green, the natural color 
of the bird. It is said that when this new plumage is plucked, 
the next growth will still retain the new colors without 
further treatment. 

Many of the mammals captured by the Karaya in in- 
fancy, become very tame. They are raised successfully, nursed 
either by a slut, or at the human breast. These tamed ani- 
mals include various kinds of monkeys, the capibara, a ro- 
dent which becomes as large as a six-month old pig, agut«s, 
picarres and tapirs. Of reptiles, the Karaya keep turtles, 
large lizards and alligators, the last named of which lie in 
pools of water on the sand bottoms, held captive by a cord 
around the body. The Karayahy division has comparatively 
few domesticated creatures. 

Like most of the South American tribes, the Karaya are 
primarily fishermen, obtaining their flesh food more from 
the river than from ,the forest. A few tribes, however, that 
do not live near streams of any importance, are compelled 
to rely almost wholly upon the chase for their meat, and 
so become more expert hunters than fishermen. As elsewhere 
stated, all the aborigines of South America, except the nomadic 
tribes, engage in agriculture to some extent, though to a very 
limited degree, except where they have obtained axes, grub- 
bing-hoes and large knives from the civilized people. 

The best time to fish along the Araguaya is during the 
rainless months from May to November, when the water is 
low, for when it rises, the fish are much more difficult to 
catch. During low water, the larger fish seek out the deep 
places in the river, where they may be easily taken. These 
places, which are well known to the natives, are above the 
smaller rapids, and also where there are certain rock forma- 
tions which make deep holes, called pogos by the Brazilians. 

The fish of the Araguaya have the same characteristics 
as those of the Amazon valley in general. The giant pire, 

95 



Brazil 

which attains a length of ten feet, occurs very frequently; 
also the electric ell, and the thick-bodied pirarara which is 
encased in an armor of strong, bony plates; the voracious 
piranha, the jahu, a scaleless fish nearly as large as a man; 
the pintado, or spotted fish, which reaches a length of six 
or seven feet; various pacus, besides many other kinds of 
fish. All of these are suitable for human consumption. 
There are certain scaleless fish which are not used by the 
Karaya. Neither will they eat the dolphin; but they are 
quite fond of the turtle and its eggs. 

During the time of high water when fish are not easily 
caught in the yellow, earth-charged flood, the Karaya secure 
their fish from the lagoons along the river, which they make 
into great, natural traps for the larger fish by cutting off 
their retreat. This is accomplished by blocking the outlet of 
the lagoon with a basket-work of poles and heavy climbing 
vines. In former times, fish were taken exclusively by means 
of the bow and arrow, but the Karaya now use the hook and 
line, which is obtained in trade from passing canoes. It 
is for the most part impossible to fish in the Araguaya with 
a net because the piranha cut it to pieces, and also because 
of the many large creatures that infest the river. 

Hunting is not so important an occupation with the 
Karaya as fishing, hence they are more expert anglers than 
hunters; nor do they display much skill in the chase. This 
may appear strange to persons who believe that all Indians 
are hunters, par excellence. South America is not so rich 
in large game as Africa; moreover, some superstition, the 
taboo, doubtless, prevents the savages from eating the flesh 
of some species of game which are most numerous. For this 
reason, the Karaya do not hunt the tapir, which abounds along 
the Araguaya, though the meat is excellent, being much 
like beef, yet richer. Deer also, of which there are many 
varieties, exist in great numbers ; yet few, if any, of the savage 
tribes touch these animals. The Karaya never hunt large 
game, confining themselves to monkeys, which are abun- 



96 



Brazil 

dant, and to the pecari, the aguti, the musk duck which is 
found in ponds, and similar small game. 

Agriculture among the SambiQa is highly developed — re- 
markably so, in fact, for a people living in a state of sav- 
agery — and is even more advanced in some respects than that 
of the " civilized " Brazilians living near their territory. A 
large assortment of vegetable foodstuffs are raised. They 
now have the same agricultural implements as the " civilized " 
Brazilians, having relegated to oblivion their rude tools of 
ancient times, with which they could not till the soil but to 
a very limited extent, and that only with excessive toil. The 
high agricultural development reached by these savages is 
very interesting and important, proving conclusively that the 
primitive man, far from being incapable of anything but to 
wander over a wide territory, living from hand to mouth by 
hunting and fishing, is capable of becoming an agriculturist 
of no mean order. The plant most extensively cultivated by 
the Sambioa is the manioc. They raise both kinds, the 
" wild " and the " tame." Next to this in importance is corn. 
But this is used more to make a fermented drink than for 
food. Sugar-cane is also cultivated on the low, alluvial soil 
along the river, which is well adapted to this purpose. But 
the natives have no suitable contrivance for extracting the 
juice from the cane. Several varieties of small, brown beans, 
brought from Para, and which are a staple food among civ- 
ilized Brazilians, are also raised. So also, the white and 
violet Brazilian card, a kind of potato. Besides these food- 
stuffs, which were obtained originally from civilized Bra- 
zilians, the Karaya gather from forest and jungle, many 
kinds of wild fruits and vegetables, which introduce a pleas- 
ing change in their aliment. A few such are the caju, a 
yellow, olive-shaped plum, which grows on a very large tree; 
the jabadacaba, a plum which grows clinging to the trunks 
of a tree resembling the elm; the morisy, a large yellow 
cherry, groves of which may be seen growing on the up- 
lands; mongaba, the fruit of a kind of upland rubber tree, 
which I have elsewhere called a natural baked apple; and 

7 97 



Brazil. 

the genipapa or wine fruit, a very soggy, tough fruit as 
large as a pear. It looks and tastes something like a fig 
soaked in vinegar, but is much prized by the natives. But, 
as elsewhere mentioned, the palm is the never-failing friend 
of the children of Nature. One or another of its multitu- 
dinous varieties will have a little food of some kind for them 
every day in the year, such as nuts, fruits and vegetables ; 
and besides, will furnish them the material for their huts, and 
for bows, arrows and cordage. Though all else should fail, 
these trees will remain as a tree of life to them. It seems 
strange that they have no oranges. This fruit will flourish 
in this region, even doing well without any care, once it has 
been given a good start. The absence of this tree is the more 
remarkable because the Karaya are very fond of oranges, and 
undertake journeys lasting weeks to obtain them. Wild 
honey is also a much prized article of food, as it is among 
most South American savages. They make the wax into 
black balls, or discs about one inch thick, to be used as a 
glue. 

The Karaya have also a kind of tobacco, which contains 
but a slight percentage of nicotine. The dried leaves are kept 
in large, square packages covered with palm-leaves. To pre- 
pare it for use, it is pulverized between the hands, then 
smoked in a pipe that looks like a funnel-shaped plug. The 
pipe most used is one fashioned by Nature herself. It is a 
certain kind of fruit-shell, or pod, which is funnel-shaped 
and hollow. Failing this, a pipe is made of a kind of hard 
wood. The bowl and stem are one straight piece; therefore, 
when in use, the cavity is in a horizontal position, and not 
held upright, like the civilized ( ?) man's flue. The part that 
enters the mouth is so large that the lips are greatly dis- 
tended in closing around it, hereby increasing the already ugly 
appearance of the mouth caused by the repulsive ornament 
in the lower lip. I have seen the front teeth hollowed some- 
what to fit around this huge plug. 

No less interesting than the kind of food used by these 
people, is the means whereby it is prepared for eating. In 

98 



Brazil 

the open air, just in front of the entrance to each hut, is 
the cooking place, which is surrounded by a slightly raised 
platform of sticks on which the manioc meal is evaporated. 
Large earthen pots are seen resting upon stands over the 
fire; while the ground around is littered with garbage, which, 
as previously mentioned, ferments, and attracts and breeds 
swarms of pestiferous flies. The women are as busy as bees, 
and toil untiringly throughout the whole of each and every 
day, gathering fruits and vegetables from forest and field, 
going many miles distant and returning, staggering under 
heavy burdens, gathering firewood, preparing manioc meal, 
pulverizing corn in wooden mortars, splitting the small cocoa 
nuts, and attending to the cooking. Dr. Ehrenreich says of 
the Karaya wife, that though her raw materials are limited, 
she, nevertheless, succeeds in producing a good assortment of 
food. Among all savage and semi-barbarous peoples, the fe- 
males labor more assiduously than the males, and the burden 
of providing for the family seems to fall more upon them than 
upon the males. Here again, we observe the similarity be- 
tween these children of Nature and the wild creatures, upon 
the female of whom falls the burden of providing for the brood. 
The Karaya have no matches, or any of the appliances 
of civilization for kindling a fire, but still adhere to the 
ancient method. Fire is produced by means of two sticks of 
wood, one, which is of urucu, being secured to the ground. 
This is grooved and morticed in such a way that by setting 
the point of the second piece, which is a taquara reed, into the 
groove and causing it to spin rapidly by rolling it between 
the palms, glowing dust issues from the side of the first 
piece, with which a fire is kindled. Punk is not used; the 
piece of wood that is bored takes the place of punk. With 
this glowing dust, strips of palm-leaves are ignited after being 
daubed with easily inflammable red resin. But the primitive 
housekeepers seldom have to resort to this method of producing 
fire as they do not allow their camp-fires to die out. When on a 
journey, they carry fire-brands, or glowing coals, which are kept 
alive at times by .being buried in the sand. 

99 



Brazil 

Fish and game are sometimes prepared for eating by cook- 
ing in a clay pot ; but the usual method is to impale the meat 
on a stake which is set up in the ground by the camp-fire and 
inclined over it; or else to place it upon glowing coals and 
allow it to remain there until the outside is burned to a 
crisp. As a portion of this crisp part is naturally reduced 
to ashes, a saline substance is produced, which, mingling 
with the juice, flavors the meat. Various root foods, and 
also ears of corn, are prepared for eating by roasting over 
the fire. 

Besides the ash salts just mentioned, the Karaya contrive 
to extract a little sodium chloride from certain earth banks 
which contain a small percentage of this substance. It is 
only recently that they have begun to use salt obtained from 
the civilized world. Banks of saline earth are easy to locate 
as the wild beasts frequent these places to " lick." In the 
cattle-raising regions, a herdsman is much pleased to have 
one or more of these briny spots in his territory so that his 
cattle may thereby obtain salt. 

" The poor tame brothers " of the Sambioa, the Karayahy 
branch of the family, though they are supplied to a limited 
extent with axes and grubbing hoes, do very little planting. 
Neither have they many domesticated creatures. Those they 
do have are largely birds of the parrot family, which they re- 
gard with affection, though their feathers are plucked to be 
used in ornament making. 



100 



Chapter IX. 

karayA activities.— canoe making.— weap- 
ons.— nature MADE UTENSILS. — ORNA- 
MENT MAKING.— FAMILY LIFE.— PRIMI- 
TIVE ETHICS.— MARRIAGES. — CHIL- 
DREN.— GOVERNMENT. 

The industrial activities of the Karaya now make a better 
showing than in former times, for their primitive tools are 
now more and more replaced by tools introduced from the 
civilized world. The old stone-axes have disappeared, and 
little is known of them. Ancient inscriptions and figures upon 
the rocks represent men with stone-axes in their hands, but 
these drawings belong to a remote period. 

To-day, the only primitive implements of the Karaya are 
those that Nature furnishes them ready for use. Their scrap- 
ing tools, for instance, are sharp-edged shells ; their chisel- 
like instruments are the teeth of certain powerful rodents; 
and smooth, flat stones, formed by the action of the water, 
are used as discs upon which to beat and prepare the web 
of bark which is their cloth. 

• It cannot be said of the Karaya that their primitive in- 
dustries have fallen, in any degree, into decay because they 
have begun to use the tools of civilized men. Adaptability, 
beauty of form, and carefulness of execution, is evident in 
all their workmanship. Canoe building among them, for in- 
stance, has reached a high degree of perfection, though the 
method of constructing them is very crude. These canoes, 
which are all dugouts, are long and slim, and taper gradually 
to a point at both bow and stern. This form is perhaps best 

101 



Brazil 

suited to their purpose owing to the many shallow places in 
the river, and because it facilitates landing and pushing off. 
The tree selected to be transformed into a canoe is an ipiuba 
or a jatoba, which must be very straight. Strange to say, 
the butt of the tree becomes the bow of the canoe; therefore, 
the finished canoe is broader at the bow than at the stern. 
As these children of Nature are preeminently imitators of 
Nature, it seems quite probable that in constructing their 
canoes, they have in mind the form of the fish, which always 
goes big end first. 

The log is first hewn into the form of a canoe, then hol- 
lowed out with axes and with fire. It is not broadened amid- 
ships, therefore, when finished, it is no wider than was the 
original tree. As it is thus very narrow and tapers gradually 
and uniformly high above the water at both bow and stern, 
it tips over very easily. Great care is taken to make it per- 
fectly smooth outside and in. No seats are provided, but 
sticks are placed across the bottom to keep both the occu- 
pants and the freight out of any water that may leak in. 
As every family has a canoe, quite a fleet of them may be 
seen in front of every village. These canoes are propelled by 
paddles five feet in length, half of which is blade, the point 
terminating like a lance. They are made with great care and 
labor, and are often nicely ornamented. When canoeing, the 
pilot is always seen perched in a squatting position on the ex- 
treme point of the stern with his knees drawn up to his 
chin. 

The weapons of the Karaya are as of old — there has 
been no change whatever. In common with other Brazilian 
tribes, the length and stiffness of their bow is according to 
the height and strength of its owner. Some bows are seven 
feet in length, while a boy's bow is two and a half or three 
feet long. They are made of the wood of a certain palm-tree 
which the Brazilians call pan de arco — bow wood — which is 
the wood used by all the tribes of central and North Brazil 
for their bows. The bow is made flat inside, and the ex- 
tremities taper to a point. Several lengths of string, carried 

102 



Brazil 

as a reserve, are kept wound around the bow. The Karaya 
take great pride in their bows, ornamenting them beautifully 
with tassels of brilliant feathers. 

They use several different styles of arrows. Some are har- 
poon-like for fishing purposes ; others are made with broad 
blades for hunting; while still others are for use in war. 
They are all made with the utmost care, as much as one or 
two days being consumed in the making of but one. Two 
or three different kinds of wood are always used in con- 
structing a single arrow, one kind being for the spear, or 
lance part, another kind — heavy palm wood — for the middle 
staff, and light bamboo wood for the base, and all are spliced 
and bound together with the greatest nicety by means of long, 
narrow strips of bark taken from certain climbers, and finally, 
the weapon is burnished. It is about four feet in length. 

The weapons used for fighting at close quarters, which 
is the method of warfare liked best, are heavy clubs and 
lances. The clubs are of two kinds — first, shovel-like clubs 
and round clubs, resembling base-ball bats, varying in length 
from three to four and a half feet. The lances are nine or ten 
feet in length, the shaft being of palm wood, and the point, 
the shin-bone of the spotted onca — jaguar — or of a deer. A 
beautiful, basket-like work of black and white wooden strips 
is woven, or braided, tightly over the shaft of the spear, and 
to this is attached tassels of brilliant plumage. The Karaya 
have spear-throwing sticks, but I understand they are no 
longer used in war, but for sport only. The contrivance is 
a long strip of wood so formed that it can be used, sling-like 
to hurl a spear. In common with all the savage tribes of 
South America, the weapons, implements, ornaments and 
ceremonial instruments are all made by the men of the Karaya, 
while the women make only the household utensils. 

The Karaya housewife, therefore, makes several styles of 
pots and pans ; but pottery has not yet reached a very high 
degree of perfection with this tribe for the forms are simple 
and crude. They do not make pots in the form of natural ob- 
jects as do the tribes of the Xingu river. Utility, and this 

103 



Brazil 

only, is sought. The Karaya once more like all the South 
American tribes, form the pots without the use of the potter's 
wheel, the work being done by building up rings of clay, 
stroking and shaping, first with the hands, then with bones 
and shells until the vessel reaches the desired form and 
strength. The ashes of certain plants are mixed with the clay 
to give it greater firmness. 

To secure an oven in which to bake the pots, these chil- 
dren of Nature again look to their common Mother. In the 
large, dome-shaped ant-hills which abound in their world, 
they find a nearly complete natural oven. They further pre- 
pare this oven for use by carving a hole in one side and 
starting a fire in it. This done, they put the pot, previously 
sun-baked into the kiln ; then open a second hole on another 
side of the ant-hill to communicate with the first, by which 
to feed the fire. A draft is secured by opening a vent in 
the top of the natural oven. The women make clay spoons 
as well as pots. Though a few of these clay vessels are pro- 
vided with legs, none of them have handles, except as cords 
are secured around them to serve as handles. 

Besides these manufactured vessels, Nature again comes 
to the aid of these primitive people and furnishes them jugs, 
bottles, basins and pans of a great variety of shapes and 
sizes from calabash or gourd-shells. These vegetable vessels 
are not only as hard as wood, but very durable, though they 
cannot, of course, be placed over the fire. Large rattles for 
ceremonial purposes are also made from the gourd by re- 
placing the seeds with pebbles, and attaching handles of 
wood. 

Nature has supplied the Karaya with such a rich and varied 
material that braid-work is the principal household industry, 
a product notable for its utility and variety of form. The long, 
slender leaves of the oaguasse, or burity-palm, are braided to- 
gether diagonally into mats to serve as flooring for the huts, 
and even for roofing. The flooring mats, being so easily pro- 
duced, are made only as wanted. The finest grades of matting 
are made to sleep upon and to roof the hut. For this work, 

104 



Brazil 

large, fan-like palm leaves are slit into narrow strips, skeins 
or bundles of which are kept always on hand ready for use. 
A very small mat is made especially for the fisherman to 
stand upon to protect his feet when he has to remain a long 
time at one spot on the hot sand. 

A great variety of beautiful baskets are also made of braid- 
work. These are made of sipos — climbing vines — reeds, split 
stems and the like. Large baskets, resembling sacks, are 
made of very coarse palm-leaves for use in carrying heavy 
loads of food material gathered from the forest. The smaller 
baskets are made not only of fine materials of various colors, 
but are braided into nice patterns. They are of many sizes 
and shapes and used for numerous purposes. Some are hand 
or shoulder bags in which to carry small articles ; many 
others of various sizes may be seen hanging from the roof 
of the hut which serve as receptacles for numerous small 
household articles or personal effects ; others are double, or 
covered baskets, like telescope traveling bags, in which much- 
prized feather ornaments are carefully guarded ; while still 
others are canoe-shaped hanging baskets, beautifully designed. 
Nearly all these baskets are flexible, and some are even elastic, 
bottle-shaped baskets. To carry the tobacco when on a 
journey, a square basket is used, to which is attached a bark 
shoulder strap. A large, basket-work disc, finely and closely 
braided, is used as a sieve, or colander. As the civilized 
Brazilians everywhere have the same kind of utensil, it may 
be inferred that it has come down to them from their ab- 
original South American ancestors. 

The " textile industry " of the Karaya is nothing more 
than braid-work. Natural resources once again furnish them 
an unlimited supply of material nearly ready for use. The 
burity-palm once more manifests its unfailing utility, yield- 
ing a splendid fibre which can be readily stripped from its 
long leaves. Another kind of fibre, which possesses great 
adhesive qualities, is obtained from the inner bark of the 
mallow tree. The finest threads are spun by rolling a number 
of single fibres together between the moistened hands, or 

105 



Brazil. 

between the hand and the leg above the knee. These line 
strands, again, are rolled together into cords. This is ac- 
complished by each strand being skillfully rolled independ- 
ently on the leg as the hand is passed rapidly over them 
all before they are permitted to come together and twist them- 
selves around each other into a single cord. The same 
method of making cordage is seen among the " civilized " 
Brazilians of the far interior, and is probably another relic 
of their aboriginal ancestry. 

The Karaya also make fish-nets by means of large wooden 
needles ; small nets, shaped like hand-bags, in which to carry 
small objects; queer-looking net caps that may be drawn 
together with cotton strings, and which arc embellished with 
brilliant feathers. Cotton is also used by the Karaya. It is 
spun by means of a rude spindle of bone or baked clay, which 
is revolved between the hands. 

The loom, or contrivance for braiding — or weaving — by 
means of which the hammocks already described are woven, is 
very simple. The warping is wound over two small posts 
which are planted upright in the ground a foot or two apart. 
The weaving is done by working the woof thread in by hand 
over and under the warping threads by means of a long needle, 
then pressing it back tightly by using a wooden blade instead 
of the reed employed by more advanced peoples. It is ex- 
tremely slow work. Various colored warps and woofs are 
used making stripes in the finished work. On this same frame- 
work is woven the strong bands used in carrying heavy 
baskets ; also the forehead bands and the body bands for in- 
fants. Armlets and leglets are either knitted or crochetted 
with a hook-like needle over a cone-shaped block of wood, 
or are made on the limb itself. 

Most of the ornaments of the Karaya, as of other tribes, 
are made of brilliant plumage. They take pleasure in making 
these articles ; and exercise such good taste and introduce so 
much variety, that they are not excelled by any of the primi- 
tive peoples of South America. The work, however, lacks 
durability ; but as they have always an abundance of suitable 

106 



Brazil. 

feathers on hand, they can replace worn-out pieces at any 
moment. Many of these ornaments are beautiful. One. 
made of white feathers an -ed around the head as a band, 

looks like a halo encircling the head when seen from a distance 
when the wind is blowing. These ornaments are worn prin- 
cipally on festal occasions, or when visitors are present. 
Three styles of a peculiar feather hood are also made. The 
foundation is a net hood of three different sized' meshes, one 
of which is very closely woven. The stems of the feathers 
are worked in between the rnc:-.hes. This is worn at the 
dance festival. 

The ear and arm ornaments have already been described. 
A dancing belt is made of strong black and white braiding 
embellished with tassels of beautiful feathers with shell 
rattles. The legs and ankles of the dancers are also decorated 
with feather tassels and shell rattles. Sometimes the savages 
" tar and feather " themselves, besmearing the body with gum, 
then putting on a thick layer of white down. In former times 
they wore necklaces of animal teeth, bones, and shell discs. 
But these have now been replaced by the glass beads ob- 
tained in trade. 

The Karaya are very fond of black and white beads, and 
may often be seen wearing a number of strings around the 
neck, to the lowest one of which is attached little chains 
terminating in fruit shells, or tiny bunches of feathers. 

The only, though much used, article of toilet of the Karaya 
is the comb, which is made in various sizes, the largest being 
fourteen inches wide and of equal length. The teeth are flat, 
slender pieces of palm wood or tacjuara, which are secured 
between two small blocks of wood. The spacing between 
the teeth is made by passing yarn between them. This comb 
is ornamented with small tassels of bright feathers. 

The ornamental work of the Karaya consists of patterns 
of zig-zag lines, crosses, or lizard-shaped forms, dots, diamond 
shapes, and peculiar broken, irregular lines; while squares and 
triangles occur only to fill out, and circles are entirely want- 
ing. The patterns seem to be chosen at random, nevertheless 

107 



Brazil 

the artificers have clear ideas of what they wish to make. 
These designs are an attempt to represent the forms of natural 
objects about them. For example, the colored markings on 
the canoe, represent fish; so also the feather mosaic work. 
The wasp, or hornets' nest is represented in the decoration of 
combs; and figures of bats with outstretched wings, and 
snakes, are also made. The tribes of the Xingu river and some 
others make drawings of men and animals in the sand. 

It is difficult for a Karaya to sketch anything with a lead- 
pencil. They do very little wood-carving. The most impor- 
tant work of art among them is the fashioning of human forms 
with wax or clay. Figures, apparently children's dolls, are 
offered in trade to travelers in large numbers. The execu- 
tion of this work shows that they have ideas of form, and 
that they observe nature. Their best pieces are as well made 
as those of the old American civilization. The lower extrem- 
ities of the human form, though, are made too large and out of 
proportion with the rest of the body. But the face is natural 
with no trace of hideousness. 

About the only instrument of music possessed by the 
Karaya, is a sort of trumpet, called by the civilized Brazilians 
a buzzina. It is, in truth, a kind of combination of the flute 
and drum. The flute part is a section of a bamboo or taquara 
cane, eighteen inches in length, with the mouth-piece, of course, 
in the side. To the outer end of this base flute is glued, with 
wax, the neck of a large, bottle-shaped gourd-shell, six inches 
in diameter, in the big end of which a large opening is made. 
Of course, a tune cannot be played on this uncouth instrument, 
for but one note can be produced with it. But these nature 
folk seem well pleased with this one roaring, booming note, for, 
like all savages, their musical tastes appear quite satisfied with 
hideous, discordant sounds and charivari noises. 

As previously mentioned, the primitive peoples of South 
America, and indeed, of every other part of the world, have 
been degraded both morally and socially wherever they have 
come under the influence of the civilized races, excepting 



108 



Brazil 

where that influence has been genuinely and positively Chris- 
tian. It is humiliating to admit this; but the most over- 
whelming evidences of it are found everywhere. How very 
many sad examples there are that the representatives of even 
Christian civilizations have imposed a curse instead of con- 
ferring a blessing upon their poor, ignorant, primitive breth- 
ren ! All too frequently, the " civilized " world which first 
comes into contact with savagery, is of the world, worldly. 
Its vices are prominent and positive, while its virtues are nega- 
tive and obscure. Naturally, the uncultured savage acquires 
the vices without effort, but knows nothing of the virtues, 
if there be any ; and his own virtues, or wholesome customs, 
become more or less overshadowed and broken down ; for the 
savage man, in common with other men of every race and 
social grade, is a more apt scholar in the school of vice than 
in the school of virtue. The influence of the Christ life, on 
the other hand, is positively and powerfully virtuous. It 
purifies and transforms the inner man, and exalts and beauti- 
fies the whole outward expression of his life, at the same time, 
preserving and ennobling all that he had formerly that was 
good. 

Many people think that savages, living in a state of 
nature, intermingle as promiscuously as swine, and without 
any restraints to their passions. This is very far from the 
truth, for they have customs, usages and traditions that are 
rigidly observed; and within certain limits, the inviolability 
of womanhood is guaranteed ; while vicious propensities are 
so restrained or regulated that the tribe is safeguarded against 
physical impairment. Unfortunately, this can scarcely be said 
of many of the civilized people of South America. 

For a savage people, human life among the Karaya is 
valued and protected; and family ties are strong — between 
husband and wife as well as between parents and children. 
The mother, instead of the father, appears to be the head of 
the family, for the following reasons : 

The husband does not eat with his family, but instead, 



109 



Brazil. 

with the family of his married sister, and is considered a 
member of his sister's family. Secondly, his share of the pro- 
ceeds of the day's hunting and fishing, does not go to his own 
hut, but to that of his sister; and, lastly, if his wife should 
die leaving dependent children, they are taken in charge by 
her parents and the widower again becomes one of the 
bachelors. 

A Karaya woman is not permitted to marry an alien, unless 
he will become adopted, or naturalized, into the tribe, and 
will consent to reside permanently at the wife's native village. 
The Karaya wife appears to be considered the equal of her 
husband in many respects, for he never takes any important 
step in life without first consulting her. Even the village chief 
divides his honors with his wife. Furthermore, the wife as 
well as the husband, has an important part to perform, not 
only in the family, but in the social economy of the village ; 
though her part is to do the heavy, laborious work, while her 
man does the light and fancy-work ; his only heavy work being 
to hunt and fish. 

The men usually have but one wife, though a few have 
two. One reason for having two wives seems to be owing 
to the custom prevailing among nearly all South American 
tribes that the young men marry the older women, and the 
old men marry the young women. Therefore, when the first 
wife becomes old, her young husband takes to himself a youth- 
ful wife. Perhaps this custom of the young men marrying the 
older women will account in part for the small number of 
children born to these primitive races ; though another reason 
may be that children are allowed to nurse until they are six 
or seven years of age. The custom of aged men marrying 
girls fourteen or fifteen years of age is common among the 
civilized people of Brazil. Abortion among the Karaya is 
practiced only when the husband demands it. Whenever a 
couple cannot live together harmoniously, the husband is al- 
lowed to trade his wife for another woman. If he should 
drive her away, he will not be permitted to marry another 
woman, though he may take a concubine. The adulterous 

no 



Brazil 

woman is punished by her husband either by flogging, or by 
torturing with fire brands. It is said that she is sometimes 
even burned to death. The adulterous man is punished by 
the nearest relatives of his wife. But among these people as, 
unfortunately, among the higher races, far greater license is 
allowed the man than the woman. 

The Karaya seem to cherish an earnest desire to preserve 
the integrity of the family, and to guard it against disturbing 
influences of every kind. Children are reared with strictness 
and maidenhood is respected ; and any transgression of the 
tribal laws regarding the relations of the sexes is severely 
punished — even with death, in some cases. But children born 
out of wedlock are not put to death, as is usually done among 
savage peoples, but instead, are, like other orphans, reared 
by the chief of the village as his own children. 

The unmarried individuals, who are distinguished from the 
married by the previously described wristlets and armlets, 
are not required to support themselves, but are provided for 
by the community as a whole. The bachelors and widowers 
live together in a sort of " bachelors' hall " — a separate hut — 
and participate in the hunting and fishing and other occupa- 
tions of the tribe only as they feel inclined. But the un- 
married women, while, like the single men, not required to 
work, are not segregated, for they dwell in the huts of their 
nearest relatives. These females are allowed certain liberties 
with the unmarried men in order that they may not perturb 
the married men and their families. They are the village 
prostitutes. By this arrangement the single men, on the 
other hand, are kept from endangering family life. Women 
taken captive from the enemy in intertribal wars, are retained 
as prostitutes and semi-slaves. These unhappy females are 
the common property of all the men, the married as well as 
the single. Captive female children share the same sad fate; 
and probably also the children born of captive parents. 

We see in these customs, the dualism of the " ethics " of 
the savage. They are moral, if we may use this term, only 
when their own well-being is at stake — when it is a question 

ill 



Brazil 

of preserving their own health and the perpetuity of their 
tribe. With them, the abstaining from or checking of vice, 
is not a question of conscience, or ethics. They do not re- 
gard vice, and evil generally, as wrong in a moral sense, but 
in a physical and utilitarian sense — because they see that it 
injures them physically and materially. Right and wrong, 
virtue and vice mean to them simply material well-being or 
damage — a question of expediency only. Their perception of 
moral principles is very dim. They possess the innate ideas 
of right and wrong, as do all human beings, but seemingly 
in a blind, instinctive, unintelligent sense only, like a child. 
Though the taboo, or belief that dire calamities will be visited 
upon them if they should transgress the will of their divinities, 
exercises a powerful influence on their conduct. 

Matrimony is consummated by the man in question making 
known his wishes to the parents of the maiden of his choice. 
These in turn ask their daughter if she gives her consent. If 
she is willing, her affianced delivers to her all his weapons. 
He then conducts her to the domicile of one of his relatives, 
as he, of course, has no house of his own. Here they both 
remain four days as guests of the family. The fifth day, the 
bride is led back to the hut of her parents, following which, 
she returns to the bridegroom his weapons. As if to prove 
that he is competent to care for a family, the groom goes on 
a few days' hunt, returning when he has secured a quantity 
of game. The marriage ceremony terminates with a baccha- 
nalian feast, given by the bride's parents, which corresponds 
to the wedding supper of civilized people. The couple may 
now live together, and a hut is built for them. 

The Karaya love their children and treat them kindly, 
though they are stoical and make no display of their affec- 
tions. This is true of most of the South American tribes. 
Very young children are carried about constantly by the 
mother, and cared for untiringly; and are coated with 
colored grease and decorated with bright feathers with the 
same pride and solicitude that the most civilized mothers care 
for and dress their children. The older children are left to 



112 



Brazil. 

occupy and amuse themselves entirely as they may feel in- 
clined. Nevertheless, they show a natural good behavior. 
But in observing them, the idea is somehow suggested to one 
that they are, to some extent at least, creatures of instinct, 
like irrational nature about them. In common with the brutes, 
they seem not inclined to go beyond limits whereby they might 
suffer injury. Just as the wild creature, left to itself, does not 
need to be governed or restrained by anything apart from itself 
for its well-being, neither do these wild children, apparently, 
need the oversight of their parents. There seems to be no 
danger that they will harm themselves, or get into trouble. 
They play naturally in a very quiet and restrained manner 
as if to avoid all possibility of attracting the attention of 
enemies. To sell children to traders, as is done in some parts 
of Brazil, particularly on the Amazon river, is unknown among 
the Karaya. 

While still at a tender age, the children begin to imitate 
the doings of their elders. The boys amuse themselves with 
archery, and by fishing and swimming; and the girls aid 
their mothers in the household duties. Children's toys are 
clay figures, small tops, miniature canoes, and even little 
cooking utensils, corresponding to the " tea sets " of civilized 
children. An amusement of which even adults are fond, is 
to play with a ball made of corn cobs and feathers, and a ring. 
Another, is a game known to many of us as " cat's cradle," 
which is the looping of a cord over the hands held some dis- 
tance apart, and relooping and crossing it over the fingers 
from hand to hand so as to make it represent the figures of 
various animals. This game is common among the Indians 
of North America. 

There appears to be clans among the Karaya. Each vil- 
lage considers itself one large family — a paternal commun- 
istic society — possessing a distinct name, and having a certain 
district for its own peculiar hunting and fishing ground. The 
cultivated land — the little village plantation — is owned in com- 
mon, is tilled by all, and the products are divided system- 
atically to each family. A similar arrangement existed among 

8 113 



Brazil 

the Incas, and is met with to-day in Russia and elsewhere. 
The hunting and fishing is participated in by all the men at 
the same time, and the proceeds of the day's chase are lumped 
together, then divided proportionately to all the families of 
the village; and those who have had " no luck " share equally 
with those who have been successful. To-day, they all 
go hunting at the command of their chief; to-morrow, they 
fish in the same way; and the next day, they all work on the 
village plantation. But in every case, the combined results 
of their efforts are divided equally according to the mouths 
to be filled. All the doings of the village are directed by the 
chief. He holds in trust all the property of the local horde, 
and is supported by the community. Consequently, it is his 
duty to adopt all the orphans of the village, including the 
sons of warriors who fall in battle. It is not necessary, how- 
ever, that he should excel in military skill. There are 
other qualifications that are considered more essential and of 
far more practical every-day value to one who would suc- 
ceed as a chief. He must have sufficient experience, energy 
and diplomatic skill to enable him to deal harmoniously and 
successfully with civilized men. Therefore, a man who did not 
originally belong to the tribe but was adopted into it from 
some other, may become chief if he should excel in these par- 
ticulars. He lays out all the work, plans the hunting and 
fishing expeditions, indicates the camping places and selects 
the ground to be planted. When the forest covering the 
land to be tilled has been cut down, allowed to dry and then 
burned, he stakes out the plot for each family composing the 
village. He has also a very important duty to perform as a 
sort of justice of the peace, and in enforcing the tribal laws. 
If two men quarrel, he adjusts the difference; while his wife 
adjusts differences between the women. He must also bring 
all culprits to justice, though he is not allowed to execute 
the sentence of the law. Custom demands that this shall be 
done by the wronged person. Murder and personal injury 
is avenged immediately, and without much ceremony, by the 
relatives of the victim. When the chief is informed of a rob- 



114 



Brazil 

bery, he at once steps just outside of his domicile, and in a 
stentorian voice that can be clearly heard by every person in 
the encampment, demands of the thief, whoever he may be, 
that the stolen articles be returned immediately. Usually, this 
has the desired effect; the stolen objects are secretly deposited 
in the place from which they were taken, and the affair is 
closed. If the articles are not returned, the chief is empowered 
to institute a search. If suspicion should fall upon a certain 
individual, the plaintiff may take from him any object he 
desires, to be held as security until the return of the stolen 
goods. If the culprit is discovered, his victim is expected to 
see to it that he is abundantly reimbursed for any loss suf- 
fered. If a chief should prove incompetent, or the people 
cannot get along harmoniously with him, they simply ignore 
him and choose another. 



115 



Chapter X. 

karayA sports.— funerals.— carnivals.— 
religion. 

The young men love to wrestle on the sand on bright, 
moonlight nights. The chief object of the contest appears to 
be to cause the opponent to fall by tripping him. It is an 
exceedingly interesting sport. The Karaya of one village 
cannot pass another without stopping to indulge in the 
" struggle," as it is called. In all such cases where a visiting 
team is pitted against a home team of equal numbers, it 
seems to be more of a ceremony, or a performance, than a 
test of championship. The visitors, on arrival, do not go 
about the village nor mingle with their hosts, until after the 
struggle. Instead, they crouch in the sand by their canoes, 
their knees drawn up to their chins, their heads hanging 
down, and do not speak, except to reply in as few words as 
possible to the questions put to them. When the ceremony 
of the struggle is over, refreshments are set before them, and 
they may go about the encampment at will. On the occasion 
of my visit, the night was rather dark ; and when the time 
came for the match, the home team, accompanied by every 
soul in the encampment, moved out to a broad, open space 
on the sand, there to await the approach of the visiting team. 
As the latter were coming up, a series of maniacal, blood- 
chilling war yells were exchanged by the teams as challenges. 
There was something about the performance that suggested 
cockfighting. Or is this " struggle " an imitation of a fight 
between rival tigers, who, having first challenged each other 
with terrifying roars, finally lock in deadly combat? The 

116 



Brazil 

teams having lined up — there were four men to a side — they 
approached each other waltzing, zig-zag fashion, back and 
forth from one side of the ring to the other in a series of 
very rapid, stiff-legged, turkey-steps, the second man of each 
pair being close behind his partner and executing, lock-step, 
precisely the same movements in perfect unison with him ; 
at the same time, the arms of all were extended in front, legs 
spread wide apart, bodies inclined forward and slightly 
squatting, and the entire anatomy of each rigid as if frozen 
stiff. As they worked gradually toward each other, they 
emitted fiendish challenges in the form of long-drawn-out 
yells. Finally, they came together and clinched, and the 
yelling ceased. The " first round " terminated quickly with 
four of the combatants sprawling upon the sand. For the sec- 
ond round, they jerked themselves out to one another in 
single pairs; while for the third round, a single individual, 
only, came out, first from one side then from the other, pranc- 
ing like game cocks right up to the opponents' line. 

Dr. Ehrenreich describes a war dance he saw at one of 
the Sambioa villages. Eight warriors, fully armed with 
spears, clubs, and bows and arrows, and decorated with 
feathers executed the dance, led by a sort of dancing master, 
before whom they were arranged in the form of a crescent. 
They moved but little from one spot — merely a few steps for- 
ward and backward — hopping rapidly and artistically on one 
leg and waving their weapons in perfect unison, guided by the 
measured beats of their leader. Every movement was exe- 
cuted with the nicest precision. It is said that the Karaya 
learned this dance from the Kaiapo tribe. 

When a Karaya dies, all his tools, weapons and ornaments 
are burned, accompanied by a loud crying, wailing and lamen- 
tation by the surviving relatives and friends, among whom, 
because of having participated in the obsequies, will be dis- 
tributed whatever articles belonging to the deceased that were 
not consigned to the flames. There is, therefore, some in- 
ducement to be a mourner. The death dance around the 
corpse is next in order. First, the body is ornamented by 

117 



Brazil 

gumming feathers onto it, then a pole nine feet long is laid 
upon it, lengthwise, as it lies upon its back, and the whole 
is enwrapped in the palm-leaf mat which had served as the bed 
of the deceased during life, and wound with long strips of bark. 
The purpose of this pole is that the remains may hang sus- 
pended from it in the grave. The group that dances and wails 
as it moves around the corpse, is led by a kind of precentor, 
who is relieved from time to time as he grows weary. As the 
performers dance, they hold their arms extended in front with 
the fingers of one hand placed upon the backs of the fingers 
of the other hand, thus forming a bow. The singing is alter- 
nate and responsive. The chorus asks the deceased where he 
has gone and how he fares, and the leader of the chorus 
responds for the corpse. The chorus wails, " He lives no more ! 
It is all over with him ! Think no more of him ! He is 
hanging from the bar! " Then the leader, speaking for the de- 
parted, responds hopefully, " I am in a beautiful land ! Give 
me some tobacco ! Did you put the plug " — the tobacco 
pipe — "between my lips? I am in need of nothing! But, be 
sure to place water at the grave ! " The chorus now repeats 
but one question, and answers in a doleful voice : " It is 
all over with him ! It is all over ! " Very frequently these 
ceremonies begin before the subject is even dead. 

Interment occurs the next day after death except where 
death has taken place very early in the morning, in which 
event it is the same day, at evening. The singing, wailing, 
lamentations, dancing and other lugubrious festivities continue 
three or four days, during which time all work is abandoned. 
The Karaya cemeteries are always located on top of a high 
hill near the river. The civilized Brazilians, imitating, per- 
haps, their savage ancestors, also place their cemeteries on 
the highest ground near the town, where it often endangers 
the health of the living. 

A Karaya grave is a hole in the ground nearly seven feet 
in length, three feet wide and thirty inches deep. The body 
is hung horizontally into this excavation so that it swings 
freely from the already mentioned pole, each end of which 

118 



Brazil 

rests on top of the ground. Beneath the corpse, which swings 
eight or ten inches above the bottom of the grave, is placed 
a clay pan filled with food for the shade of the departed. 
Next, a number of poles are placed beside the first one sup- 
porting the body so that they cover completely the mouth of 
the grave ; and over these, in turn, is placed a palm-leaf mat, 
upon which is heaped about ten inches of earth. The grave 
is further marked and decorated by setting up at the head and 
foot two stakes some three feet high, each terminating in a 
fork at the upper end, and embellished with a tassel of 
feathers, besides other adornments. These decorations are for 
the purpose of frightening away trespassing demons or ghosts. 
At the center of each post is a ring on which is carved the 
insignia or emblem of the family of the deceased, which, for 
example, may be a lizard. A strong cord is stretched between 
the stakes resting in the forked tops, over which, with the 
outer edges touching the ground, are placed two palm-leaf 
mats to form a miniature hut over the grave. This is in- 
tended as the domicile of the deceased. Calabash shell ves- 
sels containing food and drink for the soul, are placed upon 
the grave inside this mortuary hut, for the disconsolate shade 
is believed to linger near its discarded body for a time. Later, 
if the surviving relatives demand it, the bones are exhumed 
and deposited in a large clay urn, which is either sunk into 
the ground near the grave, or allowed to stand upon the sur- 
face of the ground. 

The memory of the departed is cherished. Even long after 
the death of an individual, the surviving relatives give ex- 
pression to their grief by loud and stormy outbreaks of feeling 
when any occurrence revives the memory of him. The occa- 
sion may be the arrival at the village of some one who was a 
near relative or an intimate friend of the departed, whose ap- 
pearance recalls the memory of him ; or it may be the reveal- 
ing of some memento of the deceased. Dr. Ehrenreich says 
that when he was looking through the baskets in one of the 
huts for curios, he brought to light some memorials of de- 
ceased parents or children. Instantly, the women in the hut — 

119 



Brazil 

it is always the women — broke out into loud lamentations 
and wailings, which did not cease until the objects were again 
hidden from view. He says that he witnessed at a Sambioa 
village a very pathetic mourning scene when the news came 
that a certain resident of the village had died in Para, whither 
he had gone as a paddler in one of the trading boats descend- 
ing the river. The mother and the wife of the deceased paced 
up and down the bank of the river near the village during 
two entire days, uttering continually loud and solemn cries 
of mourning. In their hands, they carried his ornaments and 
waved them constantly in the direction of the place where 
he had died. With the assistance of other women, the wail- 
ing was continued throughout the night. But whatever may 
be the real sentiments of the relatives, lamentations and wail- 
ing must not be omitted. 

The Karaya have not suffered as much from smallpox and 
goitre as other primitive peoples. But tuberculosis is in- 
creasing among them, and they know that it is infectious. 
" Is there any catarrh where you hail from? " is the first ques- 
tion they ask a stranger before he is allowed to enter their 
huts. Intermittent fevers exist among them only in certain 
low regions. They use but little medicine, for all sickness 
and disease is looked upon as demon possession, or the result 
of witch-craft. Therefore, they trust to their conjurers, or 
tribal priests, to relieve illness. These men seek to remove 
the fancied poison or disturbing element by sucking the part 
of the body where the pain is located, or to expel the evil 
spirits by performing enchantments, or practicing black arts. 
One of the most noted medicaments of the Karaya, is the 
resin of the almecegeira tree, which is mixed with cocoa-nut 
oil and taken in the form of snuff for headache, and also 
rubbed on the abdomen to cure stomach-ache. 

Bates, in his valuable work, " The Naturalist on the 
Amazon," says : " No one could live long among the Indians of 
the Upper Amazon without being struck with their consti- 
tutional dislike for heat. Europeans certainly withstand the 
high temperature better than the original inhabitants of the 

120 



Brazil 

country. Their skin is always hot to the touch, and they 
perspire but little." (This may be owing, in some degree, to 
the clogging of the pores of the body with the gummy, red 
grease with which they keep themselves constantly be- 
smeared.) * * * " They bathe many times each day, but do 
not plunge into the water, taking merely a sitz bath, as dogs 
may be seen doing in hot climates, to cool the lower parts 
of the body. The women and children who have remained at 
home while the men are away fishing and hunting, generally 
find some excuse for trooping off to the shade of the forest 
during the hot hours of the afternoon. They appear restless 
and discontented in fine, dry weather, but cheerful in cool days, 
when the rain is pouring down on their naked backs. When 
suffering from fever, nothing but strict watching can prevent 
them from going to bathe in the river, or eating immoderate 
quantities of juicy fruits, although these indulgences are fre- 
quently the cause of death. They are much subject to dis- 
orders of the liver, dysentery, and other ills of hot climates ; 
and when any epidemic is about, they take it quicker, and 
suffer more than negroes, or even whites. How different all 
this is with the negro, the true child of tropical climes ! The 
impression gradually forced itself upon my mind that the 
Indian lives as a stranger or immigrant in these hot regions, 
and that his constitution was not originally adapted, and has 
not since become perfectly adapted to the climate." 

The Karaya possess some knowledge of surgery. They 
know how to open arteries on the temple; how to bleed a 
patient; how to stop the flow of blood from a wound by 
binding the artery: understand the efficiency of sprinkling 
powdered charcoal upon wounds; have knowledge to bind on 
splints in setting broken bones, and know how to extract 
thorns from the flesh, which is done by means of sharp fish 
teeth. To empty the stomach by vomiting, they tickle the 
throat with the burnt end of a reed. 

They make use of a scarification, or bleeding instrument, 
which is a block or pad set full, and bristling, with the long, 
lance-like teeth of the piranha fish. It resembles a curry- 

121 



Brazil 

comb with very long, sharp teeth. With this barbarous tool, 
the primitive surgeon rakes and tears the back of the patient, 
who holds himself immovable by firmly grasping a post or 
tree. The blood is caught and removed on palm-leaves. When 
sufficient blood has been drawn, sand, and finally pepper, is 
rubbed into the wounds. Even when a Karaya is not sick, 
he submits to this very painful operation, believing that it will 
be beneficial to his health. The bleeding of persons on the 
back is practiced by low-class civilized Brazilians. 

Not much is known concerning the religious belief of the 
Karaya. But it is fully established that they entertain an 
animistic conception of the world, which is the lowest form of 
religious belief and practice ; and it expresses itself with them 
in the same way that it does with the better known South 
American tribes. Their observation hourly suggests to them 
the idea that every effect has an intelligent cause ; for, when- 
ever they are able to trace an effect to its cause, as, for in- 
stance, in the doings of men and animals, that cause appears 
to be psychical rather than material ; an intangible, incom- 
prehensible something that we call Mind. Therefore, they 
firmly believe that Minds, intelligence, or invisible, immaterial 
Personalities, dwell, as an Ego, or as Genii, in every material 
object, animate or inanimate, such as animals, trees and 
mountains, and direct all the operations of Nature ; and that 
brutes are differentiated from men only by their bodily form, 
every creature being alike a duality — having a psychical as 
well as a physical Self. Moreover, the phenomena of the half- 
life in sleep, together with dreams and visions, and the cessa- 
tion of all vital activities at death, furnish to their minds 
clear and positive proofs of the existence of a spirit world that 
pervades, or lies beyond the world comprehended by the 
senses. They believe that in sleep and dreams, the Ego, or 
Shade, or second Self, steals away from the body of the sleeper 
to roam about and to associate with other shadowy person- 
alities or spirits. They are convinced, furthermore, that their 
priests, or conjurers, are endowed with some supernatural, 
or mysterious powers which enable them to put themselves 

123 



Brazil 

at will into a trance or semi-death, in which state their souls, 
or doubles, explore the occult, or what is hidden from men 
in a normal state. They also believe that these conjurers can 
transform themselves at pleasure into animals — into the form 
of a witch-wolf, for example, in order to terrify, injure and 
domineer over men ; and, in brief, can do all things whereby 
shamanism — primitive priestcraft — secures and maintains its 
influence over the tribe. They have no images or idols, nor 
even fetiches, for the reason that they have not yet advanced 
to this more complex belief, if advancement it may be called. 

The ghosts or spirits of the dead, which, as previously stated, 
are believed to tarry for a time in the vicinity of the graves 
where hang the bodies they were forced to abandon because 
they had fallen so into disrepair, take delight, in after time, 
in returning to haunt the places of their habitation during 
the days of their flesh ; moreover, it is believed that they ap- 
pear to their relatives, especially on wild and stormy nights : 
When the darkness is inky black, illumined only by the cease- 
less play of the terrifying lightnings, and the thunders crash 
and boom as if the unseen Powers were engaged in mighty 
conflict, while the winds moan and shriek in the forest, then 
the old folk think of their dear departed ; and by loud lamen- 
tations and wailings, put themselves into a state of ecstacy 
whereby their inflamed imagination creates every wished-for 
phantasm. 

This animistic religion is without any ethical foundation. 
It has not in this stage attained to a conception of a higher 
or ruling Spirit upon whom man feels himself dependent for 
rewards and punishments for his deeds ; and as just stated, 
lacks everything which connects man externally with divinity, 
such as images, the paraphernalia of worship, ritual, and the 
like. But we find among the Karaya those ceremonials from 
which apparently everywhere throughout the world the 
higher and more elaborate forms of worship have come, that 
is, the mystery rites. 

Mask dances occupy an important place in Karaya life. 
The prominent role which these masquerades play among 

123 



Brazil 

North American races is well known; but thus far, surpris- 
ingly little has been learned of similar customs that prevail 
among South American tribes. Only the mask dances of the 
Tequna, the Zufii and the Uaupe races are mentioned casually 
in literature. The temples and idols alluded to by the old Jesuit 
missionaries are often nothing but medicine huts, or flute 
players' houses where are kept the mysterious mask costumes. 
These mask dances are of peculiar interest because of their 
striking similarity to those of the Melanesians as regards the 
forms of the mask and other customs of the dance. 

The Dance Masks represent animals only; but the repre- 
sentation of animal forms is not carried so far among the 
Karaya as it is in the case of the masks of the North Ameri- 
can aborigines and the Tequna, as the particular animal sought 
to be represented is indicated only by some of its most striking 
characteristics and not by the form of the mask outfit ; or cer- 
tain parts of the paraphernalia may suggest what animal is 
being represented. 

The masquerade outfits are used singly or in pairs, and 
are divided, according to their forms, into three classes. The 
first, are suits and head gears of simple or plain braided palm- 
leaves. The second class is a cylindrical dance hood which 
looks like a sheaf of wild hay inverted over the head, which 
it completely obscures, while the upper part of the sheaf 
tapers to a point about two feet above the head, and is over- 
laid with beautiful feather mosiacs, patterned to suggest the 
creatures the primitive masqueraders desire to represent, 
such as certain fish or birds. The third class does not bear 
any representations or emblems of animals. To this class 
belongs what is called the black-bird mask, though this is a 
human face, made from a large calabash shell. The lower part 
is black and the upper is red, while the mouth is furnished 
with wax lips and wooden teeth. Between the small eye-holes, 
is a nose of wax placed unnaturally high, and a hanger of black 
and brown feathers falls down behind ; while long, slender 
palm-leaves, hung from a belt, or girdle, form a skirt which 
covers the body of the masquerader. But these three classes 

124 



Brazil 

of masks do not include all the modifications used by the tribe, 
for each village has its own particular kind, and many medicine 
huts are crammed with the most diverse types. 

If a hunting or fishing expedition has been successful, and 
there is an abundance of food on hand, the chief of the village 
may determine to hold a masquerade festival, which shall 
continue as long as provisions hold out ; whereupon the entire 
village hums with activity for many days preparing for the 
celebration. The women busy themselves making ready meat 
and drink, employing all their culinary skill ; while the men, 
if not hunting and fishing, are occupied with the preparation 
of the dance costumes. One dance is distinguished from an- 
other by being performed exclusively by some one person or 
family, and handed down from father to son ; and each one 
is executed to the accompaniment of songs which are appar- 
ently in an antiquated form of speech, unintelligible to the rest 
of the people. Each animal represented is indicated by the 
constant repetition in the songs of the peculiar note or sound 
characteristic of that animal. For example, the paca cries, 
" Heyon hey ! Heyon hey ! " The alligator, " Huu ! Huu ! " 
and another beast, " Too koo ! Too koo ! Too-hoo-oo-oo-oo ! " 

The women and children are merely spectators at these 
masquerades, and are never permitted, under any circum- 
stances, to see the masquerade outfit, save when an individual 
is regaled in it, for they must be kept in the belief that the 
creatures represented, or rather, their shades, are really 
materialized before them, and that the garb and the being 
inside of it are one and inseparable, for of course the outfit 
always covers the entire body of the dancer. Occasionally, 
however, the old women are let into the secret. This indicates 
that the secret societies existing everywhere among civilized 
peoples, admitting men only to their membership and excluding 
women forever, and who take the most absurd and monstrous 
oaths to guard their childish secrets from other men, and from 
their own wives, sisters and mothers, are of savage origin in 
principle. 

The carnival begins with a procession of the masqueraders 

125 



Brazil 

through the encampment, who, having previously stolen away 
to the jungle and secretly donned their uncouth regalia, sud- 
denly appear ; and with a loud cry — " Han hm ! Han hm ! " 
rush toward the village, while all the villagers ejaculate 
loudly, in reply, " Nakum rare ! Nakum rare ! " — Here they 
come ! Here they come ! The procession is almost riotous, 
for the men throw billets of wood about in every direction. 
The parade over, all these imitation birds, bugs and beasts, 
or the materialization of their ghosts, retire again to the 
thicket, remove their gear, and becoming real men once more, 
quietly, reenter the village, and the savage banquet is brought 
on. 

After some hours of " eating and drinking and making 
merry," the masqueraders again rush forth from the woods 
to begin the dancing. It consists of a peculiar hopping, turkey- 
step, and rocking the body from side to side. The dancer must 
not, under any circumstances, permit his real identity to be- 
come known to the spectators. He must not speak, nor cough, 
nor sneeze ; and above all, he must not allow himself to 
stumble and fall, for if he does, he will be immediately put 
to death. If he should be compelled to cough or sneeze, as 
frequently happens because of the dust and the suffocating 
heat under his mask, he springs into the group of men standing 
near, all of whom begin instantly to cough, and thus contrive 
to drown his voice. 

The various dances follow each other according to a pro- 
gramme arranged beforehand by the chief of the encampment, 
who presides over the ceremonies and festivities. 

If a woman of the tribe should enter one- of the secret 
mystery huts, or should avail herself of an opportunity to look 
upon a masquerade outfit when not in use, she will be pun- 
ished with death. It is usual, in such cases, for the other wo- 
men to intercede with the chief for her life, and he will ex- 
ercise mercy in her behalf if she will promise silence and 
will undertake some work of expiation, such as to weave a 
hammock, or braid a large, palm-leaf mat. If she should refuse 
to do this, or her work should prove unsatisfactory, she will 

126 



Brazil 

be ordered to appear at a designated spot in the woods when 
the sun reaches a certain position in the heavens, and here 
she will be compelled to submit herself to the assembled men. 
If she should fail to appear as ordered, the men may slay her 
wherever they find her and sink her body in the river. But if 
she should flee to the mystery hut, no one will enter to 
take her for this is an asylum of refuge. If a man should 
betray the secret of the masquerade to a woman of the tribe, 
he may, nevertheless, be allowed to go unmolested. But 
these barbarous customs do not appear to be so strictly ob- 
served to-day as in former times. It is related that owing 
to an accident, all the women of a certain village, caught sight 
at the same moment of the masquerade outfit when not in 
use. In this case, of course, nothing could be done but to 
pardon them all and make known to them the whole secret. 
It is said that among the Sambioa, these masquerades are 
falling somewhat into disuse. Nevertheless, they would not 
allow Dr. Ehrenreich and his party to bring away the mas- 
querade outfits that they had stumbled upon at a spot in the 
woods where they had been thrown at the termination of a 
festival, as they feared that some of their women might be in 
the vicinity and see them. To get permission to take them, 
the men of the party had to dress in them. Though these 
customs may be less strictly observed to-day than formerly, 
nevertheless, the women cherish a profound respect for these 
supposed creatures of the forest and their mysterious hiding- 
places. 

The masquerade outfits seem to be thrown away, or 
burned, at the conclusion of a festival, the feather decorations 
having first been removed. 

Of the real significance of these masquerades, little or 
nothing is known, or perhaps ever will be known. It is doubt- 
ful if even the savages themselves are fully conscious of their 
significance. But we may get some light upon the subject 
from our knowledge of the customs and beliefs of other primi- 
tive peoples. 

It is certain that the " make up " — the creature, animated 

127 



Brazil 

object, or apparition, that rushes forth from the forest to 
parade and dance — is supposed to be the materialization of the 
spirit, or double, of the creature indicated. The animals rep- 
resented are always either game animals, or those that play a 
certain role in the tribal legends, such as the stork, the alli- 
gator and the electric eel. In accordance with a similar idea, 
the aborigines of North America were accustomed to hold 
buffalo and bear dances for the purpose of inducing the 
spirits of these particular animals to send their own kind to 
earth in abundance. 

The Karaya have other dances, which are held in honor 
of animals regarded as ancestors, or to which some mythologi- 
cal significance is attributed. There may be similar reasons 
for the masquerades. The Karaya may believe, moreover, that 
by these festivities, they are cultivating the favor of the game 
animals. 

When the men are asked why they keep from their women 
the secret of the real character of the masqueraders, they 
always, without exception, reply that the women are not al- 
lowed to see and know everything because they talk too 
much. The belief that the authority and superiority of the 
men over the women must be maintained and fortified, is quite 
evident wherever the mystery festivals are held. 



128 



Chapter XI. 

"THE CIVILIZED ONES." 

The time had now come to pass beyond the Karaya world 
in our descent of the Araguaya. But for some days, we con- 
tinued to encounter their encampments on the sand-bars. 
When we did not land, they came out to us in canoes, seeking 
to obtain some manioc meal, offering us in trade roast ears 
of corn, broiled fish, balls of beeswax and other things. They 
tried to get some tobacco from us for the " civilized " man's 
tobacco is much stronger, or more savage, than the native 
product. 

One day, I observed that, though these savages live in a 
state of nudity, they no more like to be " caught in the rain," 
unprotected, than do civilized men. As a rain-storm was 
coming up, a canoeing party, composed of both men and 
women, made for the beach, dragged their long, narrow canoe 
out of the water, high and dry, turned it over, then tucked 
themselves under it. 

At length, we arrived at a settlement of the civilized peo- 
ple, called the Bareira de Santa Anna — St. Ann's Bank, where 
we discovered that we had, somehow, lost a day in our 
reckoning, so that the days we had thought were Sundays, 
were in reality, Mondays. The reception accorded us here 
was scarcely less imposing than was our farewell at Leopol- 
dina. It was a " holy day," so the entire population, dressed 
in spotless white cotton and bleached linen suits, came down 
to the river to see and receive us. Guns were fired, horns 
were blown, and men cheered and yelled, while countless 
dogs barked and howled. The reception was royal, though we 

9 129 



Brazil 

ourselves looked anything but distinguished, appearing, in- 
stead, more like a party of dirty, uncouth immigrants, perched 
on top of a quantity of filthy " dunnage," just terminating a 
long voyage. I must confess that, after spending a time among 
nude, ill-smelling savages, who lived almost like wild beasts 
it was a pleasure to again see human beings who looked clean 
and nicely clothed, and dwelt in comparatively neat and sub- 
stantial dwellings. Even the cattle, horses and fowls looked 
good to us. 

This settlement was founded by a friar, but after many 
families had located here in order " to live at his feet/' he 
abandoned the place and left them to their fate. These people 
were nearly all very poor, and, strange as it may seem in 
a land so rich naturally, suffered much from hunger. Soon 
after disembarking, I visited a ranch a mile from the village 
where I bought eighteen hens' eggs for the equivalent of four 
cents, and could have purchased a good beef bullock for four 
dollars. This would not indicate a lack of provisions, but 
though some beef and a few eggs could be had occasionally, 
nothing else was obtainable. In the far interior of Brazil, 
produce is sold for decades at prices as unchangeable as " the 
law of the Medes and Persians." However scarce a product 
may become, the price does not change; and though a buyer 
should offer for eggs, when they are scarce, double or triple 
the established price, his action will have no effect in securing 
him this produce. I inquired of one of the leading men of the 
settlement if there was any rice to be had. " No," he replied, 
" it has ceased to be spoken of here." 
" Are there any beans? " 

" Neither are beans even named any more here." 
" Where can we get some manioc meal ? " 
" I do not know. There is none in these parts." 
" And rapadura — can we get a little somewhere ? " 
"You might find some about four miles from here." 
" Well ! " I said, " What do you eat ; tanned beef? " 
" Yes, we live on dried beef and a little fish." 
One reason given for these famine conditions was, that 

130 



Brazil 

the previous season, the river rose unusually high, overflowed 
its banks and destroyed the crops. But with all this desti- 
tution, rum was abundant. 

As we tarried here until the following day, I availed myself 
of the opportunity to talk with many persons about the Gospel 
and to distribute portions of the Scriptures. All accepted 
these with thanks, and listened attentively to my words ; 
while a few, as in the days of the Apostles, appeared to receive 
the Word of God gladly. 

When night came, I suspended my hammock and made 
myself comfortable in an open shed where a native soap was 
made. Soon after I had " retired," a group of young men 
congregated just outside of my " bed-room," and I witnessed 
what I may call a Brazilian " Auld Lang Syne," or a reunion 
stag dance ; or better yet, perhaps, an " old boys' reunion." 
One of our mulatto canoe men, who had been long absent, was 
the man to whom honors were being done. They danced 
about singly to the twanging of a guitar, and a few weird 
notes sung by one individual, terminating in a single, pro- 
longed note in which all joined; and each time this note was 
sounded, the guest of honor was affectionately embraced by 
one of his old friends. 

One more short day's journey on the river brought us 
to the Presidio de Santa Maria, a settlement founded sixty 
years ago by a friar, and used as a military post. This station 
marks the terminus of our travels on the Araguaya. 

Our reception at Santa Maria was tame indeed, compared 
to that given us at St. Ann's Bank, for the people were not 
even friendly to us. We were met at the landing by only 
the Manda Chuva — the Rain Sender, or " boss " of the place — 
and two or three fellow magnates. They* were expecting the 
teacher, but not myself; and she introduced me to them, say- 
ing, much to my surprise, " This gentleman is a Protestant 
missionary who is exploring the river." To this the " Rain 
Commander," a rough, uncultured man, replied : " Oh, the 
religion will do no harm! We will not make a question of 
that! Protestantism amounts to nothing; it is but an insig- 

131 



Brazil 

nificant revolt against the Catholic Church which originated 
in Germany in the eighteenth century. Nearly the whole 
world is in the Catholic Church ! " This was just a little 
bombasticism for public entertainment, as I afterward dis- 
covered. 

Though Santa Maria has been a mission of the friars for 
more than half a century, it is, nevertheless, a hot house of 
ignorance and superstition, and the standard of moral recti- 
tude is very low. Usually, where a friar reigns will be found 
a " Devil's kitchen." The people not only kiss devoutly the 
rope that girdles the equator of the barrel-shaped anatomy 
of the friar, but even his shoes. The only school (?) that 
ever existed here was a semi-barbarous school for boys only 
that had been handed down from the dark ages. Even this 
school was short lived. But very few of the people are able 
to read. 

The dwellings are almost wholly of the mud-walled variety, 
though a few were built of chunks of a coarse, porous stone 
which presents a dull red, decayed appearance. Climbing 
vines were enveloping everything, and the streets and yards 
were forests of tall weeds and bushes. All these details gave 
the hamlet an ancient and abandoned look. It was, in truth, 
in an advanced state of decay and reverting rapidly to the con- 
dition of primitive jungle. No vehicle was ever seen within 
its limits, not even the ox-cart. A house with glass windows 
would be a curiosity indeed, as it would be in most villages 
in the far interior. Of course, no such thing as a hotel, nor 
anything akin to it, was ever dreamed of in this place. Our 
party, therefore, broke up into small groups and was quartered 
with resident families. 

This place was worse off for provisions than any I had 
yet seen. Our own food supply was soon entirely exhausted, 
and the little that could be obtained here after much foraging 
was consumed at once by our large party; so, like the prodi- 
gal in a far country, we began to be in want. Our source 
of supply was further reduced as the river was getting so 
high that it was difficult to catch fish. The only articles of 

132 



Brazil 

which there was never any lack, was powerful rum and to- 
bacco. We could have obtained enough of the former to 
swim in, though scarcely a mouthful of food. The situation 
was relieved somewhat by our Karaya canoe men returning 
to their villages, while the Cherente and remaining canoe men 
were sent forward to the Cherente villages. 

I began at once to circulate among the people offering them 
the Book, reading it to them and talking with them, besides 
placing in their hands a Scripture pamphlet. Many regarded 
me with mingled fear, suspicion and curiosity, while others ap- 
parently heard the Word of God gladly. I found an old man 
who already had a New Testament in his possession, which 
had been obtained long before from some colporteur. It seemed 
to be a secret treasure, and was brought to light only after 
I had conversed some time with its venerable owner. It is a 
common occurrence in Brazil for persons to secretly possess 
and to read the Bible. When the old man discovered that the 
verses in my pamphlet accorded exactly with the same verses 
in his Testament, his fear and reserve broke down completely 
and he became very cordial, confessing that he much enjoyed 
reading the Book. 

Another day, as I was seated in the door of my hut, a 
merchant came to me requesting that I read to him from 
the Bible. While I read and talked, other persons lingered 
near to listen, and an enjoyable hour was spent. All that 
was read and spoken seemed to commend itself strongly to 
my auditors. From fearing me, and regarding me as some 
strange embodiment of evil, as they had done at first, the 
people now became less suspicious and began to feel kindly 
toward me. Though I read and explained to them some of 
the strongest Scripture passages, I tried to do so in the Spirit 
of Christ, and they listened kindly and with interest to all 
that was said. I am sure that this day's experience was in 
answer to prayer that inquirers might come to me with re- 
ceptive minds. 

I had a talk soon with the chief man of the village and 
found him really favorable to the Gospel instead of antago- 

133 



Brazil. 

nistic, as he had at first appeared. He had, secretly, a part of 
a Bible, so possessed considerable light; and was cognizant 
of the evils of the religious belief that dominated the minds 
of his countrymen. Nevertheless, he had failed to follow the 
light because of moral cowardice, and because he " Loved 
darkness rather than Light." He said to me, " I am aware 
of the enormities of my religion, yet, I must remain silent, 
or appear friendly to it because of the attitude of my fellow 
citizens." He requested of me a complete Bible and my 
Scripture pamphlet. It was at his suggestion and with his 
assistance that some informal Gospel meetings were held. 

We were delayed at Santa Maria a long time owing to 
the impossibility of securing horses and mules with which 
to travel overland. Meanwhile, life became daily more dif- 
ficult: Breakfast was postponed until noon, or later, and was 
usually very scant, and there was a long, long time between 
meals. I changed my boarding-house and went to room in a 
structure composed of a grass roof, a pole fence on one side, 
the open air on the other, and floored with hummocks of earth, 
rocks and rubbish ; and had for fellow boarders, dogs, cats, 
hens and three kinds of wild fowls. Our dining-table was a 
box that stood knee high. I employed a woman to come in 
and cook our meals when there was anything to cook. One 
day, a beef was slaughtered in the village and we got some of 
the meat and salted it down in an empty powder keg. We 
fared better while this lasted. But I never passed an entire 
day in Brazil without food of some kind when able to eat it. 

It was while here that I had the first of many experiences 
with intermittent fever. Irregular living may have helped 
to bring on the attack, though the natives said it was because 
I had eaten oranges that were not fully ripe. I may say that 
the traveler in tropical countries can scarcely do a more im- 
prudent thing as regards health than to eat fruit on an empty 
stomach, then expose himself to the sun's rays at mid-day, for the 
heat causes the fruit to ferment in the stomach. I was re- 
moved to the abandoned military barracks where it might be 
more convenient to care for me. This was a barn-like build- 



134 




The Argentine National Cart. It is drawn by ten horses with eight reserves to help 
where the mud is especially deep. 




An Argentine Milk Man. 



Brazil 

ing with a tile roof, but it was falling into ruin. The roof 
at one end and the gable, were entirely gone and puddles 
of water stood about on the earthen floor. My hammock was 
suspended over the one dry spot in the ruin. I was so ill 
that it was thought I would not recover. One day, I over- 
heard my attendants uttering laments; but though I was half 
blind and nearly dead, I had assurance within myself, in an- 
swer to prayer, that I would recover. As dogs had made 
their bed on the dry, dusty spot over which my hammock 
swung, I got some experience that I shall not soon forget with 
the colonies of penetrating fleas that had collected here. 
Their ability to operate very stealthily and my comatose con- 
dition, made me an easy victim. When I gradually became 
painfully conscious that there was " something doing," and 
called my attendant to investigate, he found that a large num- 
ber of these insects had wormed themselves deep into my 
feet, chiefly around the toes and under the toe nails, and had 
already developed sacs and deposited eggs ; so he dug out fifty 
or sixty of these sacs. 

As my improvised hospital was yawningly open, my room 
was as public as a city market, and both man and beast en- 
tered without " let or hindrance." The fowls came in to 
cackle and crow, the goats to bleat and the dogs to bark, while 
my two brilliant plumaged macaws climbed in through the 
open roof every morning and screamed fearfully. The vil- 
lagers also entered and conversed at great length in loud 
voices; and even groups of naked and painted Karaya from 
across the river appeared. 

The scarcity of provisions became more and more press- 
ing, and little could be obtained, however much money one 
might offer. At times, I was fortunate to get even one meal a 
day of a kind of thin paste, and this had to be fought for. 
One day, my attendant bought for me a few pounds of de- 
teriorated wheat flour at thirty cents per pound, but owing to 
lack of knowledge, or lack of material, or both, he failed to 
make anything with it but a pasty gruel. I offered one 
dollar per bottle for milk, but succeeded in getting it only 

135 



Brazil 

alternate mornings for a few days ; then the women who 
owned the cow sent word that the calf needed the milk and 
I could not have any more. To her, of course, the calf was 
more important than myself. But when I went to pay for 
the milk, she refused the money, saying that milk was blood, 
and it was a sin to sell blood. Cows in Brazil usually give 
but two or three quarts of milk at a milking, and their calves 
must always be used to start the flow of milk. One of the 
peculiar scenes witnessed daily in South American cities, is 
the milkman with his two or three fat, sleek cows and 
famished, wretched appearing calves, muzzled, and tied to 
their tails, peddling milk from house to house. He carries 
a can of milk in his hand, and the housekeeper may take milk 
from the can, or have it drawn from the cow. But one who 
wishes pure milk has it drawn while she looks on. 

Naturally, a physician is never seen at such places as 
Santa Maria. Nor was a post-office ever thought of here. 
The social grade of the people is so low that if they had a post- 
office, the clerk could carry the entire mail in his vest pocket. 
The post is a fruit of Christian civilization. It is said that in 
North America, four things are coincident with the founding 
of a town : a post-office, a newspaper, a church and a school. 
But in South America, nothing but the " church " — temple — 
may appear in fifty or one hundred years. But these temples, 
whose gods are wood and stone, deform instead of transform 
men's minds; hence a post-office is npt needed. It was re- 
ported to the Brazilian government, once, that the British 
had seized an island off their coast. A cruiser, sent to investi- 
gate, brought back the report that, visiting the island, they 
" found neither a sovereign," (a five dollar gold coin) " nor 
a Bible, nor an empty beer bottle." So it was decided that 
the report of British invasion was false. This is the Brazilian 
idea of what symbolizes British character, and their notion 
of British colonization. 



136 



Chapter XII. 

THE CHERENTE TRIBE.— SAVAGE SOCIAL FUNC- 
TIONS.— HUNTING.— AGRICULTURE.— WILD 
FRUITS. 

As soon as I was able to mount a horse, our party arranged 
with a small trader to travel eastward with him to the river 
Tocantines, and to visit a village of the Cherente tribe en- 
route. I looked forward with the keenest pleasure to escaping 
from the pestilential air and the famine conditions of Santa 
Maria, and to breathing the purer air of the hills over which 
we were to pass. When I came to mount the horse that had 
been provided for me, I found that it and myself were about 
alike — nearly defunct. Fortunately, a bottle of milk appeared 
for me just before we started, on which I breakfasted. 

It was such a glorious morning when we set forth, that I 
experienced, even in my weakened condition, a delightful ex- 
hilaration of spirit as we rode forward through the verdant 
wilds, breathing the fresh, invigorating air of the uplands. 

A pathetic incident, illustrative of Karaya character, oc- 
curred as we departed from Santa Maria. The Karaya family 
from whom I had bought one of my beautiful macaws, fol- 
lowed us two miles, weeping, to say good-bye to their bird, 
to which they had become greatly attached. 

We rode some thirty miles the first day — much further 
than I had thought we could travel — and camped for the night 
in the jungle near a little river, which we crossed with our 
baggage in a narrow, dugout canoe, then swam our horses 
over. We suspended our hammocks between the trees near 
the water, but the mosquitoes saw to it that we did not sleep. 

137 



Brazil 

We had scarcely even a trail to follow on this journey, 
for the path was barely discernable. In traversing forest and 
jungle, we were so constantly combed from head to foot by 
rough branches that our clothing reverted rapidly to mere fibre. 
We needed leather suits, including leather coat, trousers and 
hat, such as are worn by well-equipped wilderness travelers 
and " cowboys " in these regions. At times, we had to carve 
a passage through dense masses of vegetation. 

We began the second day's march by crossing a broad bed 
of quagmire covered by two or three feet of water. Each 
rider had to be careful to guide his horse so that it would 
not step into the tracks of any other horse, for in this case 
it would break through the bog and become mired. Having 
fallen some distance behind the rest of the party on entering 
the marsh, I was not forewarned. Consequently, when in the 
middle of the swamp, my weak horse sank down on his 
haunches, and was about to lie down, compelling me to dis- 
mount instantly, and wade " ashore," leading my wallowing 
horse. 

We traveled but a few miles this second day, then, dis- 
mounting at a large hut, splendidly built of palm-branches, 
where dwelt a cowboy and his family, tarried here until the 
following day. This was the first human habitation we had 
met with since leaving Santa Maria, thirty-five or forty miles 
distant. Destitution prevailed here also, for we found 
scarcely a mouthful of food, though the family had been 
living here two years. The eight children of the family re- 
mained hidden while we were present, for they were virtually 
naked. Some days the head of the family secured a little 
game, while at other times, the family subsisted upon boiled 
or roast pumpkin. The cowboy possessed nothing himself 
but a cross-cut-saw shaped pig, a skeleton of a dog, and one 
fowl only — a cock. 

Another day's ride brought us to a second ranch where the 
resident family had lived twelve years. They also existed 
in abject poverty ; but we succeeded in getting four eggs, and 
I saw a little tobacco growing near the hut. 

138 



Brazil 

The fourth day, we arrived at a fertile spot where lived 
three or four families, and where the owner of our little troop 
had a rude distillery. But the making of rum had been given 
up long before our visit because the enterprise was thought to 
be " bewitched." The cane juice would not sour and ferment, 
and other details went wrong. Finally, these and other mys- 
terious occurrences convinced the superstitious and unhappy 
owner that an enemy had bewitched the plant and it was use- 
less to continue the work. Such superstitions are general in 
Brazil among all classes. 

Night had closed in when we reached this settlement, and 
though we went foraging to the resident families, we could not 
obtain a taste of food. Therefore, we dined on a paste of 
manioc meal and water, seasoned with coffee. But fortune 
smiled upon us in the morning for a handful of rice and a 
chicken came to light, and a Nimrod who had watched all 
night near a saline bank where the wild beasts came " to 
lick," shot a tapir and gave us a fore quarter. There was a 
surprising amount of meat in it, which looked and tasted like 
very rich beef. To preserve it, we had it cut into thin layers, 
salted, then dried in the sun. But this treatment made it 
as impossible to masticate as the tapir's tanned hide. To 
eat some of it that had been cut into small pieces and boiled 
with rice was like trying to eat rubber corks. This dried 
meat is usually prepared for eating by first boiling it a long 
time, then frying it. 

Cowboys and muleteers have a way of preparing food for 
a journey of one or two weeks so that they do not need to 
carry any cooking utensils whatever — nothing but large 
spoons with which to eat — and can carry all the food they 
need in a small bag. Frequently, they omit even the spoons. 
A quantity of sun-dried meat is cut into small pieces, then 
fried in a pot with plenty of pork fat; and finally, the whole 
mass of meat and grease is mixed with a triple quantity of 
manioc meal and put into a cotton bag for carrying. I once 
had chicken prepared in this manner and found the mixture 
excellent. 



139 



Brazil 

Having rested one day, we went on to the Bananal — Wild 
Banana Grove — village of the Cherente tribe. We now had 
no trail whatever that I could discern, and, following our 
guide, we meandered about through forests and jungles, 
jumped our horses over deep, narrow water courses and swam 
or forded others. Once, when we arrived on the high bank 
of a narrow stream and peered down into its dark, gloomy 
depths, we were astonished to behold our guide who had al- 
ready ridden to the bottom by a series of slides and short 
stops. It was like looking down into a large deep well and 
seeing a horse and rider at the bottom. 

We reached the Bananal village after a seven hours' ride, 
and were met in the suburbs by the entire population. It was 
truly the most marvelous assemblage, or " reception commit- 
tee " that I had ever seen. Several of our motley crew of 
canoe men, including one young Karaya, had preceded us 
to this village. A few, therefore, of the nondescript collection 
of human beings that met us were dressed in the full military 
uniforms brought by Sepe and his party from Rio de Janeiro. 
A few others wore the usual coat, trousers, shirt and hat of 
the " civilized " Brazilians ; several wore shirts, trousers and 
hats, simply ; some, trousers only ; others wore shirts as 
aprons by tying the arms around the waist and allowing the 
body to drop down in front ; a number wore hats only ; others, 
again, had only a strip of cloth bound around the waist; 
while a few of the females were adorned with low-cut 
white cotton gowns which were like huge sacks inverted over 
the body, having a large hole cut in the bottom for the head, 
and arm-holes cut in the two corners. The remaining individ- 
uals of the primitive horde, which were vastly in the ma- 
jority, were in a state of nature. 

As we approached, horns were blown, savage trumpets 
emitted their hoarse, dismal sounds, guns were fired, and wild 
cheers burst forth ; following which we were escorted in 
triumph by the entire city to a hut that had been held in 
readiness for us. This hut was immediately filled to overflow- 
ing with the strange, uncouth horde of human beings that 

140 



Brazil. 

came to get a closer view of us, and to greet us after the 
manner of the civilized people. It was indeed a very singular 
experience to me to be embraced by big naked savages. 

As soon as it was made known to our remarkable, though 
kind and interesting hosts that we had eaten scarcely any- 
thing that day, chunks of fresh roast tapir and wild pig meat — 
and who knows what other kinds? — began to appear in 
goodly quantities. They also brought us lumps of a sour, 
bread-like mixture made of corn meal. I was in the hungry 
state of convalescence and positively ravenous, so I much en- 
joyed even a jungle dinner. Our hosts, moreover, had fat- 
tened and reserved for us a domestic pig, which they promptly 
slaughtered and presented the meat to us ; and in various other 
ways they ministered to our wants. 

Having dined and gotten settled in our hut, two of the 
captains of the village appeared and delivered an address of 
welcome in their native language. Though I could not under- 
stand their words, yet they were the most unique orators I 
ever listened to. They were dressed in native costume, which 
was nothing whatever but their own dusky skins, and stood 
facing us while the entire population of the village encircled 
them. They were grave and dignified and sp^oke in measured 
tones in deep bass voices with many seemingly appropriate 
movements of the body, waving of the hands and contortions 
of the face; and judging from appearances, these orations, 
though pronounced by savages, wer not unworthy of a civi- 
lized orator. Under all the circumstances, their native, or 
rather, Nature costumes, did not detract in the least from 
their dignity and seriousness ; and I could not but feel much 
respect for these primitive orators. The greater my acquaint- 
ance with the children of Nature, the higher became my 
regard for them ; and far from being " wild beasts of the 
forest," as I have often heard them called, they are true 
human beings, no less endowed than most other men. 

Concerning the language of the Cherente, it seems as I 
listened to these orations, to be made up largely of abdominal 
grunts, mmmms, ahems, chirps, such as one gives when driv- 

141 



Brazil 

ing a horse, clucks and gurgles, though many sounds are pro- 
duced with the teeth and lips. As near as I could learn, 
the verb " to speak," is conjugated in the present tense as fol- 
lows: Towaza imlmle, tezamle — I speak, he speaks — towaza 
wamleme, seza imleme, temle. I spoke, is as follows : towato 
imleme, tenato mle, (first and third person only) — towato 
wamlemene, to omleme, tenato mle. I will speak, is as fol- 
lows : Waquazeza imleme, teze kumle ; towazato wamlemene, 
ktezaco imleme, quazezamle. Somizary, means horse or 
horses ; wapsa — dog ; ambu — man ; sf — bird ; kry — hut ; wede — 
tree; pattirir — cat; sika — hen; ku — river; kudu — tapir; zuem- 
hu — ants; uku — jaguar; po — deer; piko — woman, or women; 
ktiku — cow or cattle ; kuubu — domestic pig ; kid — bees ; uma — 
parrot; somizary toarah — the horse runs, or the horse is run- 
ning ; somizary mantotesusi — the horse ran ; imena xisa kirir — 
the horse runs fast. 

The Bananal village is small, being composed of but thir- 
teen huts, and having a population of but one hundred twenty, 
of whom seventy are children. The Cherente tribe has been 
under the directorate of a friar, paid by the government, for 
more than fifty years ; and during this time has been in touch 
with such " civilization " as exists in the far interior. But 
the friar, surely, ought to have been a man of culture, and to 
have raised his wards to a good state of Christian civilization. 
What his character really was, however, and what manner 
of civilization he was the soul of, will appear in future pages. 

I found the Cherente huts as good as any of the dwellings 
of the aboriginal people I had yet seen, and equal to those 
of the low-class " civilized " people. They are constructed by 
planting in the ground fifteen or twenty feet apart, two posts 
ten or twelve feet high and terminating in a fork to support 
the ridge poles; then four shorter posts, also terminating in 
forks, are set up to form the four corners of the structure and 
support the plates. Rafters and bamboo horizontals are bound 
on to these timbers with lianos, or wild climbing vines, while 
upright stakes are set in between the posts. Finally, over this 
entire frame-work, including the roof, is bound the skin, or 

142 




A Dwelling of the " Civilized " People in the Jungles of Matto Grosso, where the Author 

dismounted for a lunch. 




Getting Breakfast in the Wilds 



Brazil 

covering, which is of long, feather-shaped palm-branches. 
Usually, each hut is divided into three compartments, and is 
really very much like the domiciles of the " civilized " people 
in this part of Brazil. The floor is the bare ground. Platforms 
of poles eighteen inches high are built against the walls of 
these huts, on which the inmates sleep, or sit cross-legged. 
No mattresses or bedding of any kind are placed upon these 
primitive bedsteads, except, at times, the skin of a wild ani- 
mal. No other furniture whatever exists in these barbarous 
residences with the exception of a few clay and calabash shell 
vessels. 

We noticed one large, roomy, circular-shaped hut which 
had a kind of hip-roof. This was the Old Men's and Old Ladies' 
Home, which we found occupied by a dozen aged men and 
women. I was told that these individuals always receive a 
portion of whatever food is brought into the village. Still 
another hut was isolated two or three hundred yards from the 
cluster of huts composing the village. This is the village 
convent, or reformatory, and we found here eight or ten boys 
between the ages of twelve and seventeen years with a 
circular patch clipped on the crowns of their heads. They 
were not permitted to mingle with the rest of the villagers 
at any time, or to leave their reform school, except to march 
in a body to the brook to bathe several times during the day 
and evening, sounding the buzzina as they went. Perhaps the 
blowing of this savage trumpet was to inform every person 
in the village of their movements. I was told that they were 
detained here as a restraint upon the indulgence of animal 
passipns, or because of the promiscuous indulgence of such. 
They do not fish or hunt, are not allowed to participate in 
any of the village sports or festivities, and engage in none 
of the village occupations, except only occasionally when the 
father of one or another of them takes him to work a little 
in the village plantation, where he is constantly under the 
parent's eye while absent from his cloister. These boys, also, 
receive a share of whatever food is brought into the village. 

One morning, we visited the roca — plantation — of the Bana- 

143 



Brazil 

nal village. It was nearly a mile long and located in a valley, 
the soil of which is a black, alluvial deposit and very fer- 
tile. Here we saw growing a fine crop of corn, manioc, rice, 
peanuts, squashes, sweet potatoes and bananas. This village 
is owned by the community, according to the custom of 
South American tribes, and each individual or family works 
as ordered by the chiefs of the village. Of course the Cherente 
have the same agricultural utensils as the " civilized ones," 
which are straight-handled axes, grubbing-hoes and large 
knives, and these only. This splendid, large plantation was 
convincing evidence that the Cherente work a great deal, and 
that the oft-repeated declaration that Indians will not work, 
is false. 

The Cherente have very few domestic animals — a pig 
here and there, a few hens, and an occasional dog. They have 
no cattle or horses ; or even any captive wild creatures. As 
few families of this tribe live near any large stream, they 
fish very little, and are compelled to depend almost entirely 
upon the chase for their meat. Hence, they are more skilful 
hunters than fishermen, which is not usually the case with the 
aboriginal tribes of Brazil. They now use a few single- 
barreled shotguns. 

When a Cherente goes hunting and kills a wild pig, for 
instance, he dresses it at once, kindles a fire and roasts all 
the meat by empaling it on stakes inclined over the fire. 
When cooked, he puts it into a bag which he carries ; and if 
there is not sufficient to make him a load, he continues to 
hunt until he catches another animal. If he should have to 
remain over night in the forest, as frequently happens, he 
builds two fires and sleeps between them so that the onga 
cangasu — jaguar — may not approach him to make a meal of 
him. Returning to the village, he promptly delivers all his 
game to the captain who divides it, proportionately, among all 
the families of the village. A feast and a dance usually follows 
the return of a successful hunting expedition. 

One evening, during our visit, such a dance was held on 
the village playground and attended by the entire population, 

144 



Brazil 

except the poor fellows in the convent. The savage citizens 
were summoned to the function by the loud and vigorous call- 
ing of the " town crier," who was, presumably, one of the 
leading men, or captains. Assembling, the company formed 
itself into a large circle, and all sang; and all danced, too, 
after they had worked up sufficient enthusiasm. They danced 
either singly, or by all joining hands, like a great circle of 
school children. The performance was begun by several of 
the young men hopping, jumping and rushing about individ- 
ually inside the ring, one of whom sounded the buzzina, while 
the rest of the company sang. What astonishing music this 
was ! It was wild and uncouth to the last degree ; neverthe- 
less it was entirely appropriate to this assemblage of nude 
and sombre savages that swayed this way and that in the 
obscurity, uttering its hoarse sounds, demon like, here in this 
remote, howling wilderness. The noise was like a low, gut- 
teral, sepulchral moan and rumble. The music of this savage 
chorus was rendered the more fearsome by the constant dismal 
booming of the buzzina. The song was merely the continual 
repetition of a few words. The Cherente buzzina is like that 
of the Karaya, though longer, being a kind of combination of 
the flute and drum. The calabash shell attached to the ex- 
tremity of the flute part is eighteen inches long and five inches 
in diameter. 

One morning, just as the sun was rising over the eastern 
wilds, several old men joined hands in a circle, like a com- 
pany of children at play, and sang and danced. They moved 
in a circle, each individual slowly rocking himself right and 
left and stepping sidewise a kind of turkey-step. The song 
was a low, base rumble in a minor key; though the whole 
performance was of a joyful nature and in praise of the birth 
of the new day. It was a strange sight, indeed, to see these 
aged men playing like little children. It was one more evi- 
dence that the primitive man, though big and old, is merely a 
child. 

Though the Cherente no longer go on the war path, but 
instead, follow the pursuits of peace, tilling the soil far more 

10 145 



Brazil 

extensively than they could in the days of old, as they now 
have steel tools, yet it is painfully evident that they, too, 
in common with other tribes, have been debased morally and 
socially by contact with " civilization : " and this, too, not- 
withstanding that they have been subject to the friars for 
more than half a century. Indeed, many of these " poor tame 
brothers " appear to be in a worse state, even as regards this 
world's goods than they were " in the good old days." Only 
Christ can lift men up and improve them in every respect, 
because He transforms the heart and renews the mind. All else 
takes away more than it gives. 

The Bananal village is the largest that the Cherente now 
have. All the other families of the tribe are living in very 
small groups scattered over a wide territory, and are extremely 
poor. Indeed, the Bananal village, which was founded but 
two years prior to our visit, is an attempt of these people to 
improve their condition by re-establishing tribal life. 



146 



Chapter XIII. 

LIFE ON THE RIO TOCANTINES.— " THE DEVIL IN 
FLESH AND BONES."— SACRED BULLIES. 

We stayed but three days at the Bananal village, then 
traveled eastward to the Rio Tocantines, crossing enroute the 
high ridge that separates the valley of the Araguaya from the 
Tocantines. 

We daily feasted upon the wild caju fruit, finding it ex- 
cellent. It is very acid, though, strange to say, it has a slight 
honey flavor. Crossed with other varieties of plum, the pro- 
duct might be very fine. While ill at Santa Maria, I derived 
much benefit from eating the wild morisy cherry, previously 
mentioned. It is prepared for eating by crushing it, then 
pressing it through a sieve to remove the stones and skins, 
and finally, stirring into it a little sugar and water. It would 
be difficult to find a fruit so well suited to promote health, 
in a region where fevers prevail. 

I was much interested to observe that the wild fruits in 
the tropical regions of Brazil are usually acid, yet having, 
in a more or less marked degree, the flavor of honey, and 
besides, a slight taste of turpentine, though they do not have 
this latter quality to a disagreeable extent. All these fruits 
are very healthful. Another interesting wild fruit is marma- 
lade, which looks and tastes remarkably like the manufac- 
tured article. There are many varieties of it in Brazil ; but, 
unlike most of the native wild fruits, it grows on a low bush. 
Nearly all the wild fruits that I have seen in Brazil, grow 
on trees, and not on bushes or vines. Another interesting 

147 



Brazil 

fact regarding the fruits of Brazil, compared with those of 
North America, is that fruits similar to those of the latter 
country which grow on vines on the ground, are found grow- 
ing on trees in the former country. The mamao, for ex- 
ample, reminds one strongly of a pear-shaped muskmelon. 
It is the same size and nearly the color of the muskmelon ; 
its flesh and seeds are identical with those of the muskmelon 
and it tastes much like it; yet it grows in a cluster at the top 
of a tree, not unlike a telegraph pole, ten to thirty feet high. 
Another wild fruit is one which suggests that it is a combina- 
tion of the muskmelon and the watermelon. It grows on a 
heavy wooden vine, like the trunk of a grape-vine, which 
climbs a tree and bears its fruit high above the ground. The 
fruit is twelve inches long, round, and six inches thick. The 
seeds and flesh resemble the muskmelon, but the pulp is watery, 
like the watermelon, though slimy and rather tough. It is 
very sweet, and so aromatic that if one were to eat it sitting on 
the veranda, all the neighbors to leeward would scent it. 

A surprising thing to the traveler in Brazil is, that instead 
of the ground being covered with beautiful wild flowers, as 
many people suppose, but few are seen. About the only 
flowers met with are the blossoms of trees and vegetable 
parasites. During the growing season, large trees are seen 
everywhere that appear to be one mass of brilliant blossoms. 
The trees are nearly always heavily freighted, and often beau- 
tifully draped, with uncounted varieties of parasites and aerial 
plants, among which orchids figure prominently. 

We got our first glimpse of the great river Tocantines at 
the confluence of the Rio do Somno — River of the Sleep — six 
days after leaving the Bananal village. It is a mighty river, 
even at this point, some fifteen hundred miles from the sea, 
for it is nearly half a mile broad, and has an annual rise and 
fall of twenty-five or thirty feet. During the rainy season, a 
prodigious volume of water pours through this deep, narrow 
channel. Fish do not seem abundant in this river, or else 
no one knows how to catch them. 

The Rio do Somno takes its name from the fact that a 



148 



1 *yl 


fffl| ^- . , ^» 




'0r 

• 

■ 


V 


, 



The Village Oven. 




Hauling Logs to the Saw Mill in Paraguay. 



See rinflntpr -viii 



Brazil 

trading boat, while ascending the Tocantines long ago, tied up 
here for the night; and while the large party of canoe men 
slept, the Cherente savages fell upon them and clubbed all 
of them to death. A Brazilian village of seven or eight hun- 
dred inhabitants now exists here. We crossed the Tocan- 
tines to the village in a borrowed canoe, for there was no 
ferry. N 

The " streets " of this village, like those of Santa Maria, 
are merely broad lanes filled with forests of weeds, through 
which run narrow paths, like cow trails. No street grading 
had even been done, and sidewalks were undreamed of; nor 
had a vehicle of any kind ever been seen here. All carrying 
is done on the backs of horses and mules, or on the heads of 
the people. All the buildings are of one story, with yawn- 
ing apertures for windows, which are closed by large, door- 
like shutters, for glass windows are unknown. A public 
hostelry existing here could not be even imagined. Conse- 
quently, I secured lodging in a corner of a family dwelling 
located on the principal street. The floor of this house was 
the ground, as usual, and the ceiling was the bare, unadorned 
roof. The part of the roof facing the street was of tiles, 
while the rear part was of palm-branches ; and the walls of 
the house were of sun-dried brick. The cooking was done 
in a separate shanty built of stake walls and palm-branch 
roof close in the rear of the large house. One never lacks 
for fresh air in a house of this kind, because the tile roof is 
so open that the wind blows through it as freely as through a 
corn-crib ; also the rain comes in when the wind blows. I 
could have bought the house I occupied and the half acre lot, 
for the equivalent of thirty dollars, yet it was better than the 
average house in the village. I ate occasionally at a house 
that I could have bought for five dollars ; and probably " the 
best house in town " was not worth more than one hundred 
dollars. Only four or five had a room or two floored with 
boards. With the exception of these board floors, the doors 
and window-frames of other dwellings, and a few tiles, no 
house in the village cost anything to build but labor. 

149 



Brazil 

No business whatever is carried on at this village except 
trading in a small way. There were a few very small general 
stores. The goods offered for sale here are almost wholly 
in the dry-goods line ; and even this stock is limited to a little 
assortment of prints and other cotton goods, needles, thread, 
buttons and the like, and in addition to this a few knives, hoes 
and axes, powder and shot, wooden soled slippers, and a few 
pills; and last, but by no means least, rum and tobacco, and 
a few bottles of imported wines thrown in. Merchants keep 
nothing in the provision line. There is no such thing here 
as a " grocery store." Nor could the village boast of a 
butcher shop, or a bakery. It is difficult to conceive of a vil- 
lage which is the only mart for more than one thousand 
people, and yet without a grocer, druggist, doctor, barber, 
blacksmith, shoemaker, a permanent tailor, a hotel, school, or 
a printing office. The mail, however, comes here at wide, 
irregular intervals. 

It may be asked, How do these people live? This question 
is not easy to answer. Many of them seem to exist, merely, 
instead of to live. Many families have small plantations at 
a distance from the village where they raise a little corn, 
manioc, and a few pumpkins; a few others own some cattle; 
others go as paddlers of the trading boats on their annual 
voyage down the Toncantines to the city of Para; a few are 
muleteers. Some men seem never to do anything except to 
mount a horse and go foraging once or twice a month. Many 
women make lace, which they sell at about twenty cents 
per yard, though four or five days are consumed in making a 
yard. With the chunk of beef or few quarts of manioc meal 
that they buy with the pittance obtained in payment for their 
work, together with a few bananas, a squash now and then, 
and a bit of game brought in from time to time by a friend 
or relative, they manage to eke out an existence, though many 
days they are forced to subsist upon manioc meal and bananas 
only. Fortunately for these poor people, beef, which never 
changes in price, costs but twenty cents for ten pounds. 
That is, beef can be bought at this price at the wide intervals 

150 



Brazil 

when some one of the few men who can raise eight or ten 
dollars, feels disposed to ride many miles to a cattle ranch, 
buy a bullock, lasso it and bring it to the village, slaughter 
it and put the meat on sale. But this does not occur more 
frequently than twice a month in the dry season. Families 
that are able, buy a quarter of beef at one time and preserve 
it by drying it in the sun, thus keeping themselves supplied. 
In Brazil, the butchers' customers are not permitted to select 
any particular piece of meat, but each must take it as it 
comes, meekly accepting either brisket or porterhouse. 

In this part of Brazil, the staple food is sun-dried beef 
and manioc meal. People who live well, have, in addition to 
this, boiled rice saturated with pork fat, and occasionally, 
brown beans, boiled. Manioc meal sells here at about one 
dollar forty cents for fifty quarts; unshucked rice, when ob- 
tainable, brings one dollar twenty cents for fifty quarts ; rapa- 
dura is five cents for two-pound bricks ; and eggs are three 
cents per dozen, when, at rare intervals, they are for sale. 
No baking powder of any kind, or yeast, is known here. 
When cakes are made of manioc starch or corn flour, which is 
seldom, large quantities of eggs are used to render the finished 
product somewhat spongy. It is a wonderful compound, and 
of a weight and strength to inspire fear. Wheat bread is rarely 
seen here. There are but one or two ovens in the entire 
village. They are built of clay, are dome-shaped and very 
large, with walls twelve or eighteen inches thick. They are 
located in the yard, for each one is used by many families. 

If necessary, I could live in this village on seven or eight 
dollars per month. I could not live in Waldorf-Astoria style, 
but I could have a sufficiency of the food of the land, and 
doubtless would have just as good health and be just as happy 
as the people who live at this luxurious hostelry. But, with 
more means, one could do a larger work. There are many 
places in South America where the messenger of Christ could 
reside, and labor, on an income of one or two hundred dollars 
per annum, if he were content to subsist as frugally as the 
United Brethren Missionaries did, or as did Ansgar, the 

151 



Brazil 

Apostle to Scandanavia, or as Patrick, or as many of the 
early Jesuit missionaries, or even as Jesus and His disciples ; 
and equipped with a photographic outfit, for example, one 
might gain his year's salary by a few weeks' pleasant labor. 
However, the more liberally the missionary is supported, the 
more work he can accomplish. 

There are no wells in the Rio do Somno village, as there 
seldom are in any village or town in Brazil, but the water is 
carried up the high bank from the river into the village by 
the women, who use for the purpose large clay pots which 
they cleverly balance on their heads. Nearly everything in 
South America that can be transported by human strength, 
is carried on the head. In large cities, pianos, even, are seen 
being moved along the streets on the heads of men. 

A pound or two of mail reached the Rio do Somno village 
about twice each month. It included four or five small four- 
page newspapers containing a few items of local news and 
some political effusions. The smallest items of news of the 
great events of the world seldom leak in here. Nearly four 
months are consumed transmitting the mail from Rio de 
Janeiro to the Rio do Somno. In traversing this great distance, 
it is carried one thousand miles by rail, fourteen hundred 
miles on mule back and two hundred miles by canoe down the 
Tocantines. 

Owing to illness, I remained much in seclusion during 
my first week at the Rio do Somno village. But when I began 
to appear in public, I discovered with dismay that there was 
considerable excitement in this place of eternal repose, and 
that I was the unenviable cause of the disturbance. It was 
" noised abroad " that Antichrist had appeared in the village ; 
or, " the Devil in flesh and bones," to translate literally the 
words of the people ; or, " the subdelegate of Satan." And that 
I was thrusting into the hands of the people a Book which 
taught " a short cut to hell " — enticing them quickly to ever- 
lasting ruin. As I made my way along the mere cow-paths 
of streets, I was stared at with mingled curiosity and dread. 
Entire families — father and mother, boys and girls, came forth 

152 



Brazil 

from their dwellings — keeping always at a safe distance — and 
eyed me as if I were a monster, or a strange and dangerous 
beast — a tiger, that had crept in from the jungle " seeking 
whom he might devour." Others, again, gaped at me won- 
deringly through the yawning windows of their dwellings, or 
through partially open doors, seemingly not daring to risk 
themselves from behind their barricades. They stared at my 
eyes : Did I have red or fiery eyes, or some other ocular 
abnormality? — and my teeth: Did I have tusks or metal 
teeth? — It might prove very unfortunate for one, under these 
circumstances, to have gold-filled, or gold-capped teeth, if he 
should permit them to be seen. — And did I have horns? — 
wolf ears? And what about my feet: Did I have a hoof — 
a cloven hoof? Or, did I have a web foot, like a duck? 
Many thought I was a special messenger direct from the In- 
ferno, with sealed orders from his satanic majesty, and was, 
therefore, some monstrous embodiment of evil : That there 
was no vice, or crime, or wickedness, known or unknown 
to men that I was not an adept or post-graduate in. The 
anxious family that harbored me was examined and reex- 
amined, inquisitorily, regarding my habits and doings. " What 
does he eat?" they questioned. " What does he say?" 
"What does he do?" "He doesn't eat pork, does he?" 
" It is reported that he is giving the people bewitched golden 
crosses in exchange for those blessed by the priest." " Have 
you seen him do this?" " Where does he go nights?" They be- 
lieved, apparently, that I occupied the black, mysterious hours 
of night conspiring with other hob-goblins, and " cooking up " 
subtle villainies to allure men to everlasting woe. No rain 
fell for a week, though the rainy season was nearly at its 
height and there should have been a down-pour nearly every 
day; so it was common talk that my presence in the village 
was the cause of the stoppage: — The gods were angry and 
would send no rain. Superstitions of this kind are univer- 
sal in South America, even where the full light of civiliza- 
tion is thought to shine. If there is a famine, or a flood, or 
a plague, or a misfortune of any sort; or if anything unusual 

153 



Brazil 

occurs, the messenger of Christ is pronounced the cause of 
it. While enroute to the coast some months later, and trav- 
ersing a wide region where no rain had fallen for one or two 
years, it so happened that torrential rains followed us all the 
way. Perhaps in this case, I brought the rain — an unspeak- 
able blessing. 

One day, after I had been in the village some weeks, a 
gaunt, fierce-visaged, partially intoxicated individual, obtruded 
himself into my private apartment while I lay in my hammock, 
ill with fever. He wished to see for himself what sort of a 
fiend I really was. He was boisterous and abusive at first, 
exclaiming, " You are a Jew ! " Now, a Jew in the minds of 
these people is one of the forms assumed by the Prince of 
Darkness. "Do you eat pig meat?" he demanded with a 
snarl, after I had quietly disclaimed the honor of being, an 
Israelite. Next, he inquired with suspicious glances if it 
were true that I wrote the names of my visitors upon bits of 
paper and burned them. He doubtless feared that he, him- 
self, might be " hoodooed " in some way. " Let me see your 
foot! " he finally demanded, with the air of a witch detective. 
Having satisfied his curiosity, and become convinced of the 
utter falsity of the stories that were circulating concerning 
me, and that he himself had believed, and discovering that 
I was neither a water fowl nor a four-footed beast, his be- 
havior toward me immediately underwent an entire change. 
He now became very cordial and embraced me, uttering, at 
the same time, imprecations against his fellow villagers, say- 
ing, " What damnable people to say that this man has a 
duck's foot ! " Then he declared that he did not believe in 
images, and finally, asked me to read the Bible to him. 

Soon after my arrival at this village, the old priest, who 
was almost an absolute monarch of this region, and who 
resided at a hamlet sixty miles distant, visited the village in 
the discharge of his priestly duties. At the earnest solicitation 
of a few men, and accompanied by them, I called upon him, 
though according to Brazilian custom, he should have called 
upon me first. Owing in part, perhaps, to a misapprehension 

154 



Brazil 

of my object in visiting him, but largely, doubtless, because 
he had now reigned for decades and had become unalterably 
accustomed to domineer over and bully his poor, simple 
fellow beings with extreme arrogance, he behaved toward me 
in a brutal manner. First, he fiercely ordered out of the house 
one of the men who accompanied me, as if he were a slave. 
Next, with an air of righteous indignation that such a vile, 
slimy creature as I should dare to pollute the holy atmos- 
phere that enveloped him, he declared, savagely, that he would 
not disgrace himself by discussing religion with me. Then, 
immediately, which was in harmony with his would-be Jove- 
like character, he began to launch thunder-bolts of maldiction 
and a storm of abuse upon my humble self and on the Church 
of Christ, saying, " the Holy Scriptures teach thus, and thus, 
but these devils deny it ! " He blustered and roared loudly, 
vomiting clouds of black smoke and a river of lava from his 
sacred crater, essaying, without scarcely pausing to breathe, 
to make a heroic and awful display of his authority and 
omnipotence before his quaking subjects, as well as to bury 
me, like Pompeii, under his eruptions and prevent my uttering 
a word of defence. Had we been alone, he would, doubtless, 
have behaved more sanely. When I at length burst through 
the hurricane of speech, and drew a Testament from my 
pocket to read from in proof of what I had averred, it affected 
him like a red rag does a vicious bull. " That book is false ! " 
he bellowed, " I burn all of them I can get my hands on ! ! " 
I then requested that he produce his Bible, saying that I 
would gladly read from that instead. But he was now 
forced to confess that he had no Bible, though he had shortly 
before assured me positively that he read and studied the 
Bible " daily." Finally, when he could no longer appeal to 
reason, he again resorted to denunciation and intimidation, 
the weapons of wickedness and brutality, yelling in my ears, 
" Liar! Beast! ! Minister of hell! !" concluding his tirade by 
ordering me to " sow no more tares in his field," and say- 
ing to me with a menacing look, " If you do not take your 
pestilential self away from here immediately, there will happen 

155 



Brazil 

to you that which befell certain Protestants at Santa Rita: 
They saw the evening, but they never saw the morning." 
I replied by relating the incident of Peter and John being 
admonished by the Jews not to speak any more in the name 
of Jesus, and said that my answer would be the same as 
their answer. 

This sacred bully sought first to frighten me out of the 
village. This failing, he plotted, without success, to have 
me violently ejected. But not being ready to depart, I re- 
mained ; though I am not courageous. Added to his domi- 
neering brutality, he was a wine bibber and a libertine. This 
is the individual who, for a quarter of a century, was director 
and teacher of the Cherente tribe. If this man, who is the 
spiritual, moral and social leader of the people over whom he 
reigns, and who is to them a materialized god or a kind of 
incarnate deity, controlling them body and mind, like a Nero, 
is of this character, what can be the state of mind of his 
ignorant, misguided subjects? 

When an assassin " does a charity," as they express it, 
for a person like myself, he accomplishes three important 
things : First, he performs a deed of such transcendent 
merit that he purchases his own salvation. Secondly, he pur- 
chases salvation for his friends and neighbors by ridding them 
of that which threatens their eternal ruin ; and, thirdly, the 
slain one, having by his death been " baptised in his own 
blood," has purchased his own salvation. 

I conducted some Gospel meetings in the largest room in 
the house where I was staying. As usual, men only appeared 
within the room, most of whom remained standing during 
the service as there were seats for only a few, who sat upon 
rude stools and on my boxes. A few other men — the more 
fearful ones — stood about in the darkness just outside the 
doors and windows ; while the women crouched in obscurity 
in the adjoining rooms or squatted behind the doors. Hence, 
the invisible audience was doubtless greater than the visible 
one. The topic of the first " conference " was, The Bible — 
the Word of God — our supreme and infallible Authority, 

156 



Brazil. 

which we must listen to and obey. Close attention was given 
at every meeting ; and as I " read and gave the meaning " 
of " the Message of the God of heaven," I felt powerfully 
impressed that it sank deeply into the hearts of my auditors, 
despite their fears and prejudices, for " the word of God is 
living and active and sharper than any double-edged sword." 
Though doubtless nearly all my listeners were here out of 
curiosity, I experienced a joy of spirit which I cannot describe 
as I declared the Message of God to them. A few sticks and 
stones were thrown against the house during the first meeting, 
but this slight disturbance did not break the attention of my 
auditors. At a subsequent meeting, the visible audience was 
smaller, owing perhaps to the hostility which was becoming 
more and more manifest, though the interest was undimin- 
ished, but instead, had increased. Suddenly, the quietness 
and devotion of the meeting was violently interrupted, as 
if a bomb had been thrown among us. — An astonishing 
shower, accompanied by an extraordinary noise, had ve- 
hemently assailed the house. — A mob of poor, deluded women, 
inspired by the priest and " possessed of the devil," had 
charged down upon us to break up our little meeting. They 
launched a volley of sticks and stones against the house, ac- 
companying this heroic act with loud screaming. My au- 
dience instantly became intensely excited, and finally rushed 
into the street — though not until the shower had ceased. It 
lasted but a moment, and the authors of the tumult disap- 
peared as suddenly as they came. But two or three of the 
men who had been in the meeting, ran home and armed 
themselves with repeating rifles, while others appeared with 
sword-like knives. No one was injured, however, and no 
damage was done to the house beyond the breaking of a few 
of the tiles of the roof; and quietness being soon restored, 
we resumed our " conference." A few missiles were thrown 
the next evening, but without causing any disturbance. But 
the attendance continued to decrease, as is usually the case, 
owing to the abject fear the people had of their spiritual 
" Legree," the priest, though the interest, on the other hand, 

157 



Brazil 

seemed to steadily deepen. When the sermon was finished, 
the meeting always became quite informal, so that numerous 
earnest and pertinent questions were asked me, and we com- 
muned together until late into the night. 

Various absurd, even malicious, stories were circulated, 
not only about me, but about the meetings as well. One 
report pictured me as a sort of conjurer or wizard, and was 
to the effect that when any one called upon me, I carefully 
wrote his name on a piece of paper, then, with mysterious 
mutterings, burned the paper. Another was that at the meet- 
ings, when prayer was to be offered, I said to the people, 
" Kneel horses ! " and at the conclusion of the prayer, I 
said, " Arise, mules ! " These slanders remind one strangely 
of the stories that circulated among the heathen concerning 
the early Church. These fictions were in accord with the 
belief that I was some diabolical being. But they said of 
Christ that he had a devil, and the servant is not better than 
his Master. 

As the people continued to watch my every movement 
and to question the family where I stayed concerning me, 
they began to say with surprise, " Why, he doesn't drink ! " 
Every person here drinks the powerful native rum, and as I 
was thought to be not merely a worshipper of Bacchus, but 
Bacchus himself, I was expected to " swallow " prodigious 
draughts. Later, they exclaimed in astonishment, " Look, 
you ! the man does not even smoke ! " And where is the man 
in these parts that does not smoke? Even children just 
weaned, smoke. As the days passed, they began to say of 
me, with increasing surprise, " Certainly, he cannot be a 
bad man ! " and still later, " In very truth, he is a good man 
and has not even one vice ! " then, " He is an illustrious per- 
son ! " and finally, for these people are very free in the use 
of superlatives, " He is, without doubt, a most illustrious 
person ! " Thus the antagonism felt toward me subsided until 
I could go about with safety. 

The people now became angry with their priest, affirming, 
" He assumes that we are idiots, having no more brains than 

158 



Brazil 

to believe his beastly lies ! " for it is always the priest who 
poisons the minds of the people respecting the Gospel. A 
young man who had become very friendly to me and was 
reading the Bible, said to me, one day: "When you arrived 
here, I thought you were Satan's legate; but now, I think 
you are a saint, and that you must have much merit laid up 
in store." Naturally, I appreciated his change of feeling. As 
the fear and aversion of the people diminished, they came to 
see me more freely, and I could talk with them and read 
God's message to them ; besides, I felt more free to visit them 
in their homes. My reason for describing so fully these 
experiences is that they are an example of what occurs in 
varying degrees in numerous other places when the Gospel 
of Christ is first introduced ; though the evangelist does not 
always escape so unscathed as I did. 

During the first weeks, life among these " civilized " peo- 
ple had proved more insecure than I had found it among the 
wild men of the forest. During this time, a few of the leading 
citizens, who were anxious that no harm should befall me 
while in their village, insisted upon providing a body guard 
for me when I went out at night. I learned, after the danger 
was long past, that an effort had been made to have me 
ejected from the house where I was lodging. Still another 
plan was to take me forcibly to mass and compel me to pay 
homage to the " Holy Ones ; " though many of the people be- 
lieved that I could not endure the sight of a crucifix, that to 
look upon it would throw me into a paroxysm of rage and fear. 
The most violent proposal was to have me dragged out of the 
village. There would be no difficulty in securing instruments 
for such an outrage as assassins are common in this part of the 
world. I frequently saw a man who had four murders to his 
credit. He was an ambulating arsenal, having always two 
horse-pistols and sword-like knives hanging from his belt. 

At Easter time, each year, a straw man is fixed up to 
represent " Judas ; " and a gang of brave young men and boys, 
armed with clubs and whips, flail and pummel it furiously, 
and drag it, and at last, hang it. Even in the most enlightened 

159 



Brazil 

cities of Brazil, " Judas's " may be seen here and there hang- 
ing from telegraph poles and wires and from lamp posts. 
It was suggested that they treat " the Jew " — meaning me — 
as they had treated " Judas." If they could succeed as well 
in imagining my effigy to be my original self as they had 
imagined the Judas dummy the original Judas, this buffoonery 
would harm no one. While they are " putting an end to 
Judas," as this brilliant performance is called, the temple 
bells are clanged vigorously. 

Occasionally, when a death occurs here, a few relatives 
and friends gather at the house of mourning, and chant, wail 
and howl for an hour or two, sometimes, even all night. A 
few men who are especially skillful in howling loud and long, 
lead in the lamentations. They seem to think that by these 
ceremonies, or rather, uproars, they can pacify the gods 
somewhat, purchasing merit and shortening a little the mil- 
lenniums of torment the departed soul must endure. Some- 
times dying persons are taken to the temple in order that 
they may expire in the presence of the " holy ones," where 
" the Dog " — Satan — cannot easily seize the soul. 

As the dry season now prevailed, when nature lies dor- 
mant, provisions became more and more scarce, making life 
difficult for me as I had not been able to lay in a supply of 
such eatables as the locality afforded when obtainable. Owing 
to the remoteness of my situation, and to some misunder- 
standing, no finances reached me, and what funds I had 
brought with me became entirely exhausted. Consequently, 
I could not buy food, even when a morsel was offered. Some 
people advocate " going without breakfast." Circumstances 
forced me to adopt this system of living — even to omit din- 
ner also at times, and drink water for supper. I have been 
asked if I believe in fasting. I do. But Providence usually 
orders my fasts. I deny myself gladly if there is no food. In 
doing the will of God — and I cannot conceive of a more happy 
life than to be always doing this — providential circumstances 
appoint fasts without my imposing them upon myself arbi- 



160 



Brazil. 

trarily. But, the real Christian fast is to become so absorbed 
in prayer and service that one forgets to eat. 

I was once fastidious, but I was cured of this in Brazil, 
and the quality of my food ceased to concern me. For a time, 
I dined almost daily upon dry manioc meal — which was like 
bass-wood sawdust — rapadura and water or coffee. But since 
God watches with tender care over all His creatures, He 
ordained ways whereby I was provided for; and I regained 
my health despite adverse circumstances. A Psalm which 
has long been priceless to me, is : " Shall I look unto the 
hill? — From whence cometh my help? My help cometh from 
God who made heaven and earth." Moreover, the people who 
had been antagonistic to me at first now showed me many 
kindnesses, even making sacrifices for my benefit. Indeed, 
I have never received more tokens of true friendship than 
these poor, simple people bestowed upon me, and I shall 
never cease to entertain affectionate regards for them, and 
to wish myself once more among them. 



11 161 



Chapter XIV. 

RELIGIOUS FESTIVALS.— UNIVERSAL SOCIALS.— 
SOBRIQUETES.— BAD MEN NAMED AFTER 
THE GODS.— THE PROSTITUTION OF RE- 
LIGION.— POISONING THE MIND. 

The time having now come to hold the annual festa in 
" Homage to the Divine One " and to " Mary Most Holy " 
at a hamlet called Piabanha, some seventy miles up the 
Tocantines, I accompanied by invitation a family that was 
going to attend the festivities. As these religious, though 
Bacchanalian festivals are the supreme social events of the 
year in the lives of these simple people, which are otherwise 
barren of social pleasures and stupidly monotonous, they 
assemble almost universally from jungle and hamlet, dressed 
in the best suits they can procure, which have been made 
especially for the occasion, bringing with them a supply 
of the most toothsome victuals and delicacies they can pro- 
duce, or obtain. Many families that live in extreme isolation 
travel gladly one hundred miles or more on horseback, or 
even on foot, through the almost pathless wilds to partici- 
pate in these festivities. The occasion resembles a sort of 
camp meeting, or protracted picnic, though always held in 
the village, and reminds one of the story of the tribes " go- 
ing up " to attend the Passover at Jerusalem. All visitors 
who cannot crowd themselves in with resident families, or 
into vacant dwellings or sheds, camp out here and there, 
swinging their hammocks between trees. 

The women of our party, following a universal custom 
among the women at festal time, were busy for days making 
preparations. These preliminaries completed, we embarked 

162 



Brazil. 

in a canoe for the festa, as this was the most pleasant and 
convenient way to travel, though it was not easy to paddle 
and pole up stream. The dry season now prevailed and the 
weather was beautiful, brilliant and charming, while the 
river was looking magnificent, for the water was low and 
sky-blue and extensive sand-bars stood revealed. We hugged 
the shore all the way in order to avoid the force of the current ; 
and prepared and ate our food under the trees by the river 
side, using a sand bank for a table and a deer skin for a table- 
cloth. We passed the night in the open air, suspending our 
seven hammocks from the branches of a single, wide-spreading 
tree, and in the cool, fresh air, slept well. It was delightful 
canoeing on the river in the early morning. A luxuriant 
vegetation adorned both sides of the broad, blue flood, and 
the air was pure and invigorating. Rude dwellings were 
met with here and there along the river, at a few of which 
we made a brief visit. We tried to buy eggs, chickens and 
other produce ; but, " We have nothing," was the universal 
response to all of our inquiries. At one place, we found 
the family making rum. They kindly treated us to a drink of 
the newly extracted cane juice, which, warm from the hot rays 
of the sun, and very sweet, tasted like freshly drawn milk. 

I always took a few copies of the Book with me when- 
ever we went to make a call, so as to be fully prepared to 
take advantage of every opportunity to do missionary work. 
I met at one hut an elderly man who had been drinking rum 
somewhat freely ; but, learning who I was, he seemed to wake 
up, manifesting a strong desire to possess a copy of the Bible. 
He said he was unable to read it himself, but his son would 
read it to him. Thus, " the lamp from off the eternal throne," 
casts its benignant and transforming light in many rude, far- 
away abodes. 

At length, we arrived at the village where the festa was 
to be held, and where dwelt and reigned my old friend (?), the 
priest. It is a " beastly place," to use a local description, 
and said to be, under ordinary circumstances, one of the most 
stupid, lifeless and heathenish places existing anywhere in 

163 



Brazil 

this part of Brazil. The domiciles are, for the most part, 
mere shanties built of adobe and of thatch. It is similar to 
the village at the Rio do Somno, though more barbarous. The 
priest lives in a palace, compared to the kennels occupied by 
the rest of the inhabitants, and in regal style. He " is clothed 
in purple and fine linen " and " fares sumptuously every day." 
I heard from more than one source that he is a sort of god to 
most of the people, and that if he should command them to 
eat excrement from the highway, they would obey promptly. 
These " devout ones," some of whom aped him in dress, deport- 
ment and mannerisms, say of him that, " during the day, he 
is here upon earth ; but at night, he goes to sleep with ' Jesus 
Christ ' in heaven." 

The government mail service reaches Piabanha, though the 
mail is delivered only once or twice each month. But it never 
includes a newspaper, not even for the priest, and but a 
mere half dozen letters. The people do so little correspondence, 
indeed, that no post stamps are kept here, and none can be 
obtained nearer than seventy miles distant. I dined one day 
with the " postmaster " who was a leading man of the place. 
He did not appear to have even one table in his rude dwelling, 
and a low, rough bench was used instead of a table. He 
was reading with much interest a Bible obtained from me. 

As every house in the village was overflowing with visitors 
when we arrived, we camped in a small orange grove, sus- 
pending our hammocks under the trees. 

In arranging for a festa, one of the first things to do is to 
raise some money with which to buy powder, sky-rockets, 
coffee and rum, and to purchase materials for a public banquet 
and for compensating the priest who conducts the religious 
ceremonies and pronounces a discourse. But much of the 
needed supplies are donated by various individuals who have 
been requested to do so. To raise the money, a few men 
who can sing a little and play some instrument, such as the 
guitar, the cornet, or the accordion, compose themselves into 
a sort of German band. These individuals, carrying before 
them a banner with an image of the " Holy One " stamped 

164 



Brazil. 

upon it, and followed by a varying number of persons, some 
of whom are " doing penance," or purchasing merit, by carry- 
ings rocks or large clay pots of water upon their heads, visit 
every family in the village. As the group enters the house, 
" the devout ones," which are usually the women and the 
children, only, kneel and reverently kiss the Holy One, un- 
disturbed by the fact that the banner is never cleansed from 
year to year, though kissed by a multitude of filthy, diseased 
people. 

After the kissing, the musicians ( ?) sing and play a plain- 
tive hymn requesting a gift of money to make a festa in 
homage of the " divine one." When the music ceases, the 
Judas extends the collection box to the members of the house- 
hold; and as often as any one contributes, the banner-bearer, 
who may be some " son of Belial," waves the banner over 
his head, saying, " The Divine One " — the Holy Spirit — " be 
with you ;" or, " Our Lady bless you." 

The ceremonies attending the celebration of the feast be- 
gin on the vesper of the festal day, proper, by the " coronation 
of the emperor," or the " empress " — the person elected to 
preside over the feast, and to act as host, or giver of the feast. 
The crowning occurs in the temple. The " emperor " elect, 
attended by his suite and followed by a multitude of his 
subjects, advances to the altar, where the priest places a small 
iron crown upon his head, sprinkles him with " holy water," 
then mutters a few unintelligible words. The crown is so 
small that the wearer must walk as if he were carrying a china 
bowl upon his head, or it will fall off. The whole company now 
retires to take up a position in front of the temple to wit- 
ness the ceremony of the raising of the flag pole, which is 
surmounted by a banner having an image of the " Holy One " 
stamped upon it. This terminates the public ceremonies of 
the evening, and the remainder of the night is given up to 
visiting, dancing, drinking and sensuality. 

The festa proper begins at sunrise the following morning, 
with religious ceremonies in the temple, which are attended 
by the " emperor " and his court, followed by the entire popu- 

165 



Brazil. 

lation, and a crowd of visitors, gaudily attired. The function 
is made still more ostentatious and regal by the roar of artil- 
lery — the firing of blasts of powder from iron tubes — the ex- 
ploding of dynamite rocks or aerial bombs, and the rapid clang- 
ing of the temple bells. This tumult is to frighten away the 
Devil as well as to laud the " Holy One." The priest also 
utters a discourse, which is just a little meaningless perform- 
ance, though at this festa which I attended, his subject was 
" The Holy Spirit." What a pity it is that the most sacred 
things should be thus burlesqued. There were no seats in 
the temple, the floor of which was packed earth. The women, 
sitting or kneeling on the ground, occupied the center of the 
big, barn-like room, while the men, crowding in on either side, 
remained standing. The " emperor " sat majestically on an 
improvised throne near the" altar, observing the rites with a 
blank look. At the conclusion of these ceremonies, his majesty, 
wearing the iron crown, attended by his " court," and sur- 
rounded by the populace which kept at a respectful distance 
from him, marched " with great pomp " to his own house 
where the public banquet, which was now ready, was to 
be served. As the house was small, a palm-branch booth had 
been constructed in front of it in which were placed two long 
tables. Into this booth crowded the hungry multitude anxious 
to get their annual square meal ; for it may be affirmed of 
many of these people that it is probably the only time in the 
whole year when they get a really satisfying meal. A throne 
was arranged for the " emperor " at one end of the booth, where 
he sat in state while the crowd devoured the feast, which 
was remarkably sumptuous for such a place. What a motley 
collection of human beings it was that squeezed itself into 
this rude dining hall! Only men partook of this banquet. 
They were dressed in all styles from that of the Cherente 
savage, who was adorned with nothing but a coat of red paint, 
to that of men in full European dress of immaculate white 
and neat dark suits. The upper and nether crust of civilization 
and savagery, with the great mass of barbarism between, 
seemed to have come together on equal terms. 

166 



Brazil 

During the afternoon, there were some equestrian sports 
representing historic events connected with the expelling of 
the Moors from Spain. Other innocent diversions were also 
indulged in, besides which there was vulgar masquerading, 
lewd dancing, unrestrained drinking, and the like. 

As the feast in worship of " Our Lady " — the great 
goddess — was to occur the following day, some preliminary 
ceremonies were observed in preparation- for it. The " Queen " 
(elect) " of the Festa," surrounded by a considerable retinue, 
rode out on horseback, followed by a mixed multitude on foot, 
to a spot a short distance from the village, where she was 
married to the king of the feast. Immediately after this mock 
marriage, a collation was served consisting of coffee, and cakes 
made of corn meal and manioc starch. This ended, the royal 
procession again moved toward the village advancing very 
slowly and halting every one or two hundred yards to be 
entertained by the lewd dancing of a few dissolute females. 
This dancing was accompanied with drumming of the hands 
on rawhide seated stools, and the singing of ribald songs. 
When the queen proceeded to her coronation at nightfall, the 
royal procession was led by a band consisting of a cornet, a 
clarionet and a snare drum, the musicians playing their one 
piece — a kind of jig. 

On the morning of the second festal day, the queen was 
escorted to and from the temple, to attend the usual religious 
ceremonies, by thirty or forty men and boys brilliantly dressed, 
in feminine attire. The preceding afternoon, some money was 
raised for this feast largely in the manner already described, 
but Avith the addition that, following the small group that 
was soliciting funds, was a large company of men, women 
and children fantastically dressed in bright colors, many of 
whom were doing penance, or castigating themselves, by carry- 
ing various heavy weights upon their heads. One of these 
two feast days was Sunday; but both days, and all of both 
nights, were alike passed in " eating, drinking and making 
merry," — in visiting, gormandizing, dancing, drinking, gaming, 
the masquerading of vulgar clowns, and in lewdness and sen- 

167 



Brazil. 

suality. Though many of the people occupied themselves, 
more or less innocently, yet it shocks one to know that every- 
thing is done in honor and in worship, not only of " Our 
Lady," their chief divinity, but also of the " Divine One," 
by which is meant the Holy Spirit. These festas are truly 
pagan and saturnalian ; nevertheless, I sympathize deeply with 
these poor people, whose lives are often so lonely and so de- 
void of social advantages, and whose hearts hunger intensely 
for these annual socials. 

On the evening of the second day, I visited the house oi 
the man who had just been elected " emperor " to preside over 
the festa of the Holy Spirit for the following year. He had 
filled up his coffee-pots, uncorked his demijohns of rum, 
and was " treating all the boys " in celebration of the high 
honor that had been conferred upon him. Many were coming 
and going and all drinking freely, and instead of being rilled 
with the Spirit of God and dominated by his sweet and 
ennobling influence, these men were being filled with the spirit 
of Bacchus, and dominated by his degrading influence. 

The person who is to preside over the festa and also those 
who are to provide the various articles required, are desig- 
nated by means of the lot. The names of a number of eligible 
persons are written on separate slips of paper and deposited 
in a box, while the various duties to be performed and the 
names of the articles needed, are written on other slips of 
paper, and placed in a second box. At a convenient moment 
during the temple service, the contents of each box is 
" shuffled," and two men each draw a slip from each box at 
the same time ; then the slip from the first box, containing the 
names of persons, is read aloud to the waiting congregation, 
followed by the reading of the slip from the second box ; thus, 
Peter Prince-of-the-Apostles — one demijohn of whiskey; 
John the Baptist — five yards of tobacco. 

Shortly after attending this festa, I was present at another 
which is given annually by a private individual at his cattle 
ranch by the river Tocantines, some distance below the Rio 
do Somno village. It was in honor, or worship, of the " Holy 



Brazil 

One " whom the ranchmen had chosen as his special pro- 
tector, and whom he believed had vouchsafed him special 
favors. Each holy one is believed to guard with special 
solicitude those persons who are born on his day, and who 
bear his name. 

The old ranchman owned some two hundred cattle, and 
manufactured rum and rapadura. His dwelling, though sit- 
uated at a charming spot near the river, and surrounded by 
a rich and delightful tropical vegetation, is totally out of 
harmony with its beautiful environment, for it is a small, low 
dirty, mud-walled, grass-roofed, earth-floored coop, filled with 
a variety of unsightly objects. 

In preparation for the festa, the ranch owner slaughtered 
two bullocks, two hogs and thirty fowls, while the women 
made ready a quantity of corn and manioc meal cakes, and 
two kinds of sweetmeats, made of meal and rapadura; and 
lastly, the coffee pots were filled and the demijohns uncorked. 

The guests continued to arrive during the entire day, com- 
ing principally in canoes, until by night, over one hundred 
were present. The women were neatly dressed in calico, 
with wooden-soled, tan colored slippers, without counters, 
held loosely on their stockingless feet at the toes only, hatless, 
but wearing instead of hats, bright colored mantles, or 
shawls, draped lightly over the head and shoulders. The 
men were dressed in cotton check, or bleached cotton trousers, 
coats and vests, bare footed, or wearing slippers like those 
just described, though a few wore shoes. 

How these people did eat when the banquet was brought 
on at five in the afternoon ! Indeed, the word, eat, does not 
describe it. They bolted, guzzled and devoured wholesale, 
reproducing with considerable exaggeration as to the quantity 
each individual consumed, the scenes enacted each day at noon 
in the big eating houses of Chicago and New York. It was a 
gormandizing spectacle. As the house was so small, a high 
table was placed outside in the yard, upon which the food 
was heaped. Around this table the seemingly famished multi- 
tude crowded, and devoured the food in a standing position, 

169 



Brazil 

two or three persons eating from each plate. They ate prin- 
cipally with large iron spoons, like soup spoons, and with 
knives which they carefully freighted from point to hilt, then 
put the whole length of the blade into the mouth. I waited 
until " the rush was over ; " but even then, before I could finish 
eating, a hungry man pushed in and began to rapidly unload 
my plate without even saying, " with your permission." He 
meant no offense by this act; but not seeing a plate for him- 
self, he seized what was nearest. I willingly pardoned my 
assistant since it is common among these people for two or 
three to eat from the same plate, and half a dozen from the 
same pot. Learning who I was, my assistant at dinner came 
to me again during the evening, earnestly desiring a Bible; 
so I had a pleasant talk with him and found him no less 
hungry for the spiritual manna than he had been for the 
material food. 

At this festa, as at others, " the people ate and drank and 
rose up to play." About sunset, the largest room in the 
house where dancing had been going on during the day, was 
cleared, then a rough altar was erected in one corner by 
spreading a towel over a small, rude table. On this was placed 
the " holy one," an idol about one foot high, which was the 
ranchman's special protector. As many persons as could 
wedged themselves into the room and kneeled on the ground 
before the idol, while the remainder of the numerous com- 
pany kneeled just outside the door; and all " recited " — chanted 
and groaned a sort of prayer supplicating the continuance of 
the good offices of the holy one. This ceremony concluded, 
all went one by one to " bow down " before the idol and to 
kiss it. A man who did not know me, seeing me outside in 
the dark, inquired of me, "Did you go yet to kiss?" The 
worship having terminated, both the holy one and the alter 
were removed and the dancing was resumed which continued 
all night. As the rum was as " free as water," there was 
much drinking and more or less drunkenness. 

Living, as I did, for long periods of time entirely alone 
among the people, and on equal terms with them, I naturally 

170 



Brazil. 

observed various other interesting customs. One of the most 
curious and unique is their mode of nomenclature. Espe- 
cially are sacred and divine names employed in a startling 
manner. They are applied to everything, animate or in- 
animate, virtuous or vile. States, streets, army corps and 
men are named " Holy Spirit." I heard a mother, as she 
dandled her child, addressing it, " my Holy Spirit." Men are 
named " John God," and " John Holy-Spirit-of-God," while 
" Jesus," " Messiah " and " Emanuel " are very common. I 
knew a prostitute named " Mary Queen-of-the-Angles," and 
a debauchee named " Bishop-of-the-Holy-Ones." " Saint 
Anthony " was a multi-murderer and drunkard, " Saint Mat- 
thew " and " Moses " were drunkards and libertines, and 
" Mary of the Conception " was a harlot. 

The use of sacred and divine names in this manner con- 
stitutes the profanity of these people. It is impossible to 
" swear " in Spanish and Portuguese as in the English lan- 
guage. Fortunately, very fortunately, it is not practicable to 
utter a " volley of oaths " in these tongues, for it is foreign 
to their genius. Perhaps no language in the world can be 
so readily tortured into profane speech — the Devil's prayer — 
as our noble English language. But we can also say, thank 
God, that no language in the world is so rich in exalted and 
inspiring literature, and so well adapted to every human need. 
Theological students in Brazil call the English their sacred 
language, because their theological books are in English. 

Since everything animate or inanimate, living or dead, 
is called " The Devil " in Brazil, the expression is on the lips 
continually of every one able to articulate. Every beast in 
our cavalcades was called " The Devil ! " I saw a store in a 
large city called " the Good Devil Clothing house." Expres- 
sions such as " God give you a good night," " God bless you ! " 
" Our Lady Bless you ! " are profane expressions, as they are 
meaningless and are uttered momentarily. " God willing ! " is 
as often heard as " The Devil ! " It precedes every expression 
of a thought of action, however trivial. " My God ! " or " Oh, 
my God ! " is the most common profanity, and more freqtte»tl£ 

171 



Brazil 

heard than any other words in the language, except " The 
Devil ! " This last exclamation is used in the sense of dis- 
gust, as, for instance, when a fowl enters the house and flies 
up onto the table — no rare occurrence — or a dog pushes open 
the door and enters to steal. " Look Mary ! " is a common ex- 
clamation of surprise. " Oh, my father in heaven ! " is an- 
other very common profane ejaculation. " Long live Mary ! " 
" Long live Mary, full of grace ! ! " and " Value me, our 
Lady ! ! " are profane expressions of fear. 

The word bicho, which the lexicographers say means any- 
thing living, except a man, a fish, or a bird, is the appella- 
tion given to every object, living or dead, as an interchange 
with the exclamation " The devil ! " It might be translated 
by the word, beast. A mother will say to her child, " Shut 
the door, my little beast ! " " Demon," is also a name for 
everything. A young woman, calling upon another, is greeted 
as she enters the house with, " Where did you get that thing, 
Demon ! " "I got it from John Chrysostum, my Demon ! " 
" It is a lie, Demon ! " As a woman delivers some crochet 
work that she had been employed to do, she says : " Here is 
your pigsty, I don't want it ! " A woman exclaims at a girl 
sitting in a door, " Get up, head of a bat ! " The girl, forth- 
with, springs to her feet and seizes the speaker around the 
waist, which provokes the exclamation : " Let go this beast- 
liness ! " This is a little sample of the language that is heard 
on every hand among the lower classes. One grows very 
weary of hearing the constant repetition of " Shoo, hen ! " or 
"Shoo chicken, painted" (spotted), and "Oh people! this 
hen is crazy ! " as a fowl enters the kitchen and begins to con- 
sume the food prepared for the family. 

Nearly every Brazilian bears the name of some famous 
personage. Each is given the name of one of the " Holy 
Ones " on whose day he is born. If there is anything in a 
name, these people should all be exalted characters, unless 
they become utterly crushed under the weight of the great 
names they bear. Needless to say, their characters are 
usually diametrically opposed to those suggested by these 

172 



Brazil. 

celebrated names. I knew an unlettered, adulterous man 
named "Martin, Man-of-light ; " another, a brutal assassin, 
was named Saint Benedict; while Confucius and Socrates are 
often the most ordinary characters. 

Concerning surnames : These appear very strange com- 
pared with those common among English-speaking peoples. 
The names of trades and professions, such as Smith, Baker, 
Butler, Miller, Cook, Sailor, Abbott, Dean, Priest, Bishop, 
Doctor, Judge, are not found. Nor are colors, such as Brown, 
Green, Gray, met with. But instead, such names as Milk, 
Chicken, Sucking-pig, Guinea-pig, Jungle, Nut-tree, Oak-tree, 
Olive-tree, Olive-grove, Olive-seller, Feather, Guilded Moun- 
tain, Wolf, Axe, Stolen, Hammer, and Cow's-head. This last 
name is that of a man prominent in American colonial history. 

But these people are not addressed personally, or spoken of 
by their surnames, as is done among English-speaking people, 
but by their given names; as, for instance, Mr. (Lord) John, 
Mr. Edward, Lady Mary, Lady Anna. 

As we know, surnames were not used anywhere in the 
world prior to the tenth century of our era, and men were dis- 
tinguished from one another by their occupation or place of 
residence, or by designating their parents, or by means of 
some prominent characteristic, as, for example, John the 
Baker and William the Miller; or Robert by the Brook and 
Henry of the Woods, Theodore of the Rose Field and Jack 
of London ; or else, James the son of William (now James 
Williamson), Thomas the White and Samuel the Walker. 

This process of creating names seems to be still in opera- 
tion to some extent in Brazil. While the majority to-day 
have recognized surnames, yet they are not much used ex- 
cept on special occasions. A man readily discards one name 
and assumes a new one, which, in many cases, is given to 
him first as an appellation or nickname denoting some marked 
characteristic, or for other reasons just mentioned. These 
tacked-on names often stigmatize their bearers who become 
very angry when addressed by them. Nevertheless, these 
titles are usually appropriate. The traveler in Brazil must 

173 



Brazil 

exercise care in these matters. If he should be seeking some 
one from whom to purchase much needed supplies, and 
should be referred in all seriousness to Socrates Cricket- 
Painter, or to Emanuel Monkey, or to Chico Run-Run, he 
will readily guess that these names are sobriquetes, and will 
inquire if they are, and if their hearers accept of them ; other- 
wise, in using them he might stir up fierce wrath and fail 
to make the desired purchases. When an appellation is agree- 
able to the bearer, he often accepts it as his established name. 

One marvels that these people should be so destitute of 
respect for divine names and things, and that they should 
burlesque religion and turn it into a saturnalia. But the ex- 
planation is found in the character and practices of the priests, 
who stand before the people as the plenipotentiaries of Deity. 
These " holy priests," the spiritual and moral leaders of the 
people, are conspirators against the family, and foes to human 
progress and happiness. " They have ceased to be men ; they 
are sacred saurians covered with thick scales and green 
archaic slime." They are moral and social cancers, drunken, 
murderous and sensual, maintaining mistresses openly and 
shamelessly. How can one paint those, who, to borrow their 
own words, " paint the devil?" They seize upon the pre- 
rogatives of Deity, and hypnotizing men, dominate them body, 
mind and spirit, and hermetically seal against the Light 
every avenue to Man-Soul. They have a schedule of prices 
covering every function they perform, and making merchan- 
dise of their subjects, prey upon instead of to pray for them; 
hence, this religion is called by its own votaries, " the religion 
of money." These priests are a striking example of the wolf 
sheperding the sheep and the fox guarding the geese. 

While the Lord Jesus Christ is ever saying to men, Take ! 
Take ! these men are at the opposite pole and ever saying, 
Give us ! Give us ! Jesus came to " take away the sin of the 
world, but these men have come to filch away the money of the 
world. While Jesus seeks to make men, these " holy priests " 
seek to unmake men. Christ transforms, transfigures and 
glorifies human life, but the priests deform, disfigure, and 

174 



Brazil. 

brutalize men. While Jesus is the Light of the world, these 
men seek to entomb the world in eternal night. To deaden the 
Conscience and the Intellect is to paralyze and degrade the 
whole man. That which poisons the soul and the mind, 
poisons and ruins the entire man, morally, mentally and so- 
cially. It is a systematic and persistent attempt to suppress and 
extinguish all enlightenment and all progress. It is destruc- 
tive of all true manhood and all true womanhood. " It kills 
all practice of real virtue, and destroys self-help and individ- 
ual liberty and responsibility. It sets a premium upon vice 
by the ease and frequency with which it may be committed." 

Before these moral lepers, the priests, ensconced in their 
confessional cages, like jaguars crouching in the jungle, come 
especially the women and the simple-minded children, who, 
kneeling before the priest, divulge to him in detail in a 
whisper, as if addressing the Most High, all their secrets and 
private matters, answer all the soul-contaminating questions 
put to them, and receive from this depraved creature counsel 
and advice as from God, and the canceling of their sins. 
The wills and consciences of the people are cauterized and 
atrophied, thus paralyzing every faculty of being. 

The Shekinah no longer dwells in temples made with 
hands. The human heart, or Soul, is now the temple of the 
living God, the Sanctum Sanctorum, the Holy of Holies. But 
if the spirit of Anti-Christ seizes and enthrones himself in 
this Temple, " showing himself that he is God," there can 
be but one result, the degradation of the whole man, physic- 
ally, mentally and morally. 

Therefore, these people are very lacking in moral sensi- 
bility. Having recited in a purely mechanical way, like 
talking machines, certain prayers ; or accompanied, like pup- 
pets or automatons, the performance of various rites and 
ceremonies, their moral accountability to God, omnipotent, 
ceases completely. Conscience is dismissed as no longer 
needed; or the priest has possession of it by either deed or 
seizure, and will act for his fellows in all spiritual and moral 



175 



Brazil 

matters, or affairs of the soul. In fact, the priest is the con- 
science of all persons under his control. 

Having pacified the gods by executing automatically the 
required acts, the people are at liberty to indulge their passions 
as they may wish, or may have opportunity. Good and evil, 
right and wrong, is largely a matter of credit and debit, or 
merit and demerit, in men's accounts with the gods ; and as 
often as the debit side of their ledger of life exceeds the credit, 
the account can be balanced, in imagination, by means of a 
few credits gained by performing automatically some relig- 
ious acts. 

The prostitution of religion, and of Deity, is the degrada- 
tion of humanity. " The chief end of man is to glorify God 
and enjoy Him forever.'' It is also a beautiful and inspiring 
truth that the chief purpose of God is to glorify man and en- 
joy him forever. But, " the priestly code of doctrine is well 
calculated to ruin the infatuated people who believe in it. 
It blots out the death of Christ from the pages of history, 
denying to that ineffable sacrifice any saving effect. It reduces 
respect for the omnipotent God almost to the vanishing point." 



176 




A Primitive Church and Congregation— The Urus Baptist Mission. 




A Lonely Grave that is becoming a sort of Shrine. 



See Chapter 



Chapter XV. 

IMAGE WORSHIP.— ORIGIN OF FAMOUS IDOLS.— 
THE ATONEMENT OBLITERATED. 

Defending their use of " images," so called, the people 
say to me, in substance, " Do you not prize a photograph of a 
dear, deceased friend, which, representing him, recalls to your 
mind with tenderness, whenever you look upon it, all that was 
noble and beautiful in his character, and his many loving 
acts? This is why we have images and pictures of God and 
of the Holy Ones." 

Replying, I ask if it is not true that the value of a portrait 
lies in the fact that we have known and esteemed the original, 
and it is an exact image of him? If such a picture is ever 
regarded, like their " images " and like fetiches, as a substi- 
tute for the original, and as being possessed by his spirit. If it is 
rational for them to attribute personality to an inanimate ob- 
ject, like savages do? If God has given men His picture? 
and if they think that the rude, offensive lithographs, statuettes 
and dolls they have are true and faithful representations, and 
satisfactory substitutes, for the Most High? If it is possible 
for any human hand to paint a true picture, or chisel an image 
of the Being Who is purely Spirit, or Mind, and not matter, 
and whose overwhelming glory and majesty infinitely surpass 
all human conception? If any sane person would give out a 
picture of himself that was immeasurably inferior to the 
original ? Then, I declare that God has not only withheld His 
picture, but has absolutely forbidden men to make any rep- 
resentation of Him whatever, reading in support of this the 
first verses of the twentieth chapter of Exodus, and one or 

12 177 



Brazil 

two others of the strong passages against idolatry which are 
found everywhere in the Bible. 

These people make precisely the same excuses for their 
image or idol worship that the Hindos and all other idol- 
atrous peoples make ; and the very same, word for word, as the 
idolaters spoken of everywhere in the Old and and New 
Testament. They aver that they do not worship the image, 
but instead, the god, through this representation of him, which 
is exactly what all idolaters in every age have professed. 
Yet, the immortal god is believed to dwell in, and find a body 
in this material representation of him, just as a man's soul 
dwells in his body ; and despite all the sophistry of the teachers, 
both the tangible object and the supposed indwelling spirit 
are one and the same entity for all practical purposes as the 
devotee cannot distinguish between them. Besides, the people 
are plainly taught by what is called " single worship," to 
adore the material object which has been consecrated — deified 
— by the priest. Moreover, that the object and the supposed 
indwelling spirit are a divine unit in the thoughts of the 
worshippers, and that the object itself is worshipped, is abun- 
dantly demonstrated every day; for the devotees speak of the 
figure as they would of a rational being, clothing him with 
personality, calling him " the Holy One," or " God The Father," 
or giving him some other divine name. They regard him with 
superstitious fear and reverence. They kneel before him 
and gaze at him fixedly, like stuffed owls, reciting prayers 
and supplicating his aid. They kiss him, and punish him when 
he fails to grant them their petitions. They bear him in 
solemn procession through the streets and bend the knee to 
him; hold great festivals in worship of him; and firmly believe 
that he brings them good and daily protects them from evil. 
Anthropologists affirm that there is no essential difference be- 
tween image worship and fetichism. " Professing themselves 
to be wise, they became fools, and changed the glory of the 
incorruptible God for the likeness of an image of corruptible 
man, and of birds. * * * * They exchanged the truth of God 



178 



Brazil 

for a lie, and worshipped and served the creature rather than 
the Creator, who'is blessed forever." 

As it is manifestly the nature of every human being to 
become gradually like that which he admires and adores, so 
it is a fact that has been demonstrated a million times that 
the more devoted the image worshipper is to his idols, the more 
his intelligence dies out, giving place to a fearful darkness, 
and the more he becomes mere matter and not mind, just as 
his god is mere dead matter. — " They have mouths, but they 
speak not; eyes have they, but they see not; noses have they, 
but they smell not; they have hands, but they handle not; 
feet have they, but they walk not ; neither speak they through 
their v throats ; They that make them shall be like unto them; 
Yea, every one that trusteth in them." — Psalm 115. Every 
one that " bends the knee " to them will become as dead in- 
tellectually, morally and spiritually as they are. 

Even holy images and pictures that are master-pieces of 
art, have, apparently, no uplifting or ennobling effect upon the 
worshippers, for the reason that only an enlightened, cultured 
mind can appreciate art. In proof of this, behold in Ireland, 
Italy, Spain and Russia, hundreds of magnificent temples and 
cathedrals, themselves poems in stone, replete with sacred 
statues and pictures that are the flower of art. Yet, these 
same superb sanctuaries, created for the glorification of the 
priesthood, overshadow masses of hunted, ignorant, super- 
stitious, unmanned devotees, of whose blood and tears they 
are built, who live in hovels and on a social plane little above 
that of savages. What will be seen in an object, depends 
upon the order of mind that contemplates it. An ape may 
see the moon even better than a Newton, but how vast the 
difference between what each sees! Idolatry can no more 
produce a Christian character than a gourd can produce a 
cedar of Lebanon. Such a character can be developed only 
when the Spirit of Christ has been planted in the heart; 
for the real Christian is " born again, not of corruptible seed, 
but of incorruptible, by the word of God which liveth and 
abideth forever. " 



179 



Brazil. 

The gods of the South Americans are a thousand " canon- 
ized," or deified dead, who are manifest to men in the form 
of statuettes, dolls, dummies, manikins and lithographs. 
They were noted characters in the days of their flesh; and 
growing in fame after their demise, and coming to be re- 
garded, popularly, as gods with varying powers, they were, 
at length, officially apotheosized. This is perhaps the origin 
of all idolatry, save the gods that are the personification of 
the forces of Nature. 

In every dwelling is found an " image " of some one of 
these gods standing in its niche, while surmounting a pole 
in front of the house is a picture ( ?) of the family Protector, 
suggesting strongly a totem pole. Before one of these " Holy 
Ones " the family kneels every morning and " recites," parrot- 
like, supplicating his favor and protection. Instead of lis- 
tening to the Voice of Supreme Wisdom and Goodness by 
reading and pondering God's Holy Word, and praying to Him 
with the intelligence and from the heart, they mutter, auto- 
matically, like talking machines to these dead objects. Their 
bible is the arbitrary commands of villainous priests; their 
salvation — absolution is by purchase, self-castigation and purga- 
tory; their everlasting expectation, flames and despair. The 
BIBLE, which is the MIND and the love message of the 
LIVING, eternal, omnipotent, omniscient God, is, they are 
taught, " A short cut to hell," the most infamous volume ex- 
tant, and should be burned; while the Christian missionary 
is Satan's special emissary, or, " The Devil in flesh and bones." 

While the followers of Christ hold " Conventions for the 
deepening of spiritual life," these people have bacchanalian 
feasts for the deepening of carnal life. The former feed their 
souls and intellects upon the heavenly Bread and Science, the 
latter gorge their stomachs. The first seek to reproduce 
Christ in their daily lives, the second to reproduce Satan. 
One drinks at the glorious river of spiritual life, the other 
swallows demijohns of rum. The first worships the Father 
of Lights in Spirit and in truth, the second celebrates the 
" Holy Ones," or demigods, with powder, pomp, pyrotechnics, 

180 



Brazil 

pantomine, pandemonium and prostitution. One has eternal 
joys, the other noctural pleasures. The former fast always 
from sin, the latter fast occasionally from beef. The first 
entombs, or extinguishes, his sins, the last entombs, or ex- 
tinguishes, the celestial Lamp, the Word of God. One burns 
his sins, the other burns the Book of God. " Give ear unto the 
Law of our God, ye people of Gomorrah. What unto me is 
the multitude of your sacrifices? saith Jehovah. * * * Your 
new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hateth ; Wash 
you, make you clean, put away the evil of your doings. * * * 
Come now, and let us reason together. * * * Though your sins 
be as scarlet, they shall be as white as snow; though they be 
red like crimson, they shall be as wool." 

An advertisement concerning a religious festa reads as 
follows : " Notice to the illustrious preparers of the festival to 
the Holy Spirit: At * * * may be found a beautiful assort- 
ment of — 

Holy Ghosts in gold, with glories, @ 40c each. 

Silver Holy Ghosts, with glories. @ $6.50 per hundred. 

Holy Ghosts of tin, resembling silver @ 75c per hundred." 

At a certain festival, held annually, a big wooden manikin, 
called, " The Christ," dressed in red, and staggering under 
the weight of a ponderous cross, is borne through the streets 
on a float carried by men. Occasionally, some " son of Belial " 
is induced to become " The Christ " instead of the dummy, 
by the promise of all the rum he cares to drink. Once, the 
bearer of one corner of the float stumbled and fell, hurling 
" The Christ " to the pavement. Terribly enraged, this in- 
dividual sprang to his feet and nearly precipitated a general 
fight. This man also plays the part of " Christ on the Cross," 
which is set up at the point where another procession, coming 
from the opposite direction, is met bearing " The Divine 
Mother." The man is, of course, tied to the cross, and the 
rum is passed up to him by means of a pole with a sponge 
secured to one end and dipped in a bucket of rum. Once, 
a passer of the rum neglected his duty, and the solemn cere- 
monies were rudely interrupted by the man on the cross — 

181 



Brazil 

"The Christ "—shouting, "Oh, Mr. Jew! Mr. Jew! More 
gall!" 

Many of the idols are hollow. Sometimes there is only a 
bust supported on three stakes, like a three-legged milk stool. 
These parts are, of course, hidden from view by gorgeous 
robes. Dr. Chamberlain told me that once, while visiting a 
family having many slaves, he observed that every time a 
slave or other person passed a certain alcove, he bent the knee. 
Inquiring the reason for this, he was shown a large idol, one 
of the names of which is " the Queen of Heaven." ( ! !) Ex- 
amining it, he found that the head was hollow and full of 
bird dung. 

In times of drought, the " Holy One " who is believed to 
regulate the weather, but has, nevertheless, neglected his 
duty, is exposed to the fierce rays of the noonday sun to 
compel him to send rain. When any article is lost, if the 
" Holy One " that finds things does not reveal promptly its 
whereabouts, he may be put to boil in a pot of beans, or 
suspended, head downward in a well. At other times, the 
" Holy Ones " are carried in solemn procession, or " with 
great pomp " and ostentation through the streets to receive 
the adoration of the populace to the end that they may be 
persuaded by flattery to grant the requests made of them. 
European manufacturers, believing thoroughly in commercial 
foreign missions, at least, do a large business making gods 
for the South Americans. 

Many celebrated idols are " found " — discovered accident- 
ally ( ?) in the river, or in the woods — and believed to have 
fallen down from heaven, like Diana of the Ephesians. A 
famous goddess, called, " Our Lady of the Appearing " in the 
state of SSo Paulo, Brazil, is a prominent instance of this 
kind. 

A story of the real origin of a certain miracle-working 
" image," or " Holy One " that was found in a river by fish- 
ermen, went the rounds of the Brazilian press. The par- 
roquetes were injuring a certain field of rice by the river. 
The owner of the field, being skillful with tools — reminding 

182 



Brazil. 

one oddly of Isaiah, 44 : 12-20 — carved out a respectable wooden 
manikin, named it Birasd, and placed it in the field for a 
scare-crow. Soon, there came a freshet, and the river over- 
flowing its banks, swept Birasd away. Some days afterward, 
it was discovered by fishermen one or two hundred miles 
further down the river. They viewed it with superstitious 
awe, towed it reverently ashore, and informed the village 
priest. This astute individual, seeing a splendid opportunity 
to make his place a Mecca and enrich himself, declared that 
the " image " was " Holy Fulano," and had it borne in solemn 
procession and placed in the temple, where, in time, it became 
famous for working miracles of healing. 

At length, the maker of Birasd, being much afflicted by the 
long illness and threatened dissolution of his little daughter, 
all medical treatment having failed to restore her to health, 
was urged by his neighbors to go on a pilgrimage to " Holy 
Fulano " and supplicate his " good offices. " Not knowing 
that the famous image was his own creation, he acted upon 
this advice, prepared himself, and started down the river in 
a canoe, taking his young son with him. Arrived at the 
temple, he entered with bowed head and downcast spirit, 
and kneeling before the " Holy One" without once raising 
his eyes, began to " recite offices " to the intent that his child 
might be healed. But his son, inquisitive, and less devout in 
his attitudes, began to take note of his surroundings. Soon, 
he discovered, with astonishment, the identity of " Holy 
Fulano." " Papa," he whispered excitedly, pulling his father's 
sleeve, "It's our Birasd!" "Silence your mouth," angrily 
muttered the father, and continued " reciting." " Papa, it is 
indeed our Birasd ! " once more whispered the child, earnestly, 
after again contemplating the object before him, " Silence your 
mouth, boy, or the Holy One will strike you dead ! " hissed 
the man between his teeth, without scarcely pausing in his 
melancholy mutterings. " But it is in very truth our own 
Birasd, Papa," vehemently urged the son for the third time, 
after a pause. The man now ceased reciting and ventured to 
lift his eyes to observe the idol; and to his utter amazement 

183 



Brazil 

and chagrin, it was indeed, his own home-made scare-crow 
that he was humbly supplicating. Exceedingly humiliated and 
offended, he went hastily to the priest, who was in another 
part of the temple, and angrily, demanded the dummy in order 
to take it home. " All the world knows that this is Holy 
Fulano," roared the priest, " and that he is performing many 
miracles ! " " Then I lose all my labor, and my money, too, 
in making the image," whined the man. " No, you lose 
nothing! Here! Take this fifty dollars and go home about 
your business, and silence your mouth ! " 

Images are not the only objects worshipped by these 
idolaters. Distant from temples, and often in lonely, obscure 
places, rude shrines are found. These are solitary graves of 
persons who have, while traveling, suffered a sudden and 
violent death, either by the hand of an assassin, or by acci- 
dent, and were buried at the spot where death came to them, 
and a wooden cross set up. Such graves usually become the 
objects of religious regard, and often develop into a kind of 
shrine. A traveler passing one of these spots, places a lighted 
candle upon the grave. If a child should become ill, the 
mother, yearning for its restoration to health, may make a 
vow that if it recovers, she will acknowledge the benefit by 
visiting one of these lonely crosses and leaving there some 
token, such as to tie a red rag to the cross, or deposit at its 
foot a stone or a bit of brick, or a rude clay " image." I have 
sometimes seen quite a scrap pile collected at these spots 
of superstitious regard. Frequently, a box is nailed to the 
cross to receive these rude contributions. Occasionally, a 
woman will " do penance " by crawling to a cross on all fours, 
or by carrying a heavy weight on her head, trusting, like the 
priests of Baal, that because of this self-torture, the gods will 
be persuaded to attend to her supplication. 

When a cross begins to be regarded as possessing " vir- 
tue," that is, has power to confer benefits, a thatched roof is 
built over it; then, as it becomes more noted, a stake fence 
is built around it, next a tile roof is constructed followed by 
the building of a solid wall around it, and in the enclosure 

184 



Brazil 

are placed pictures and rude " images, or statuettes, of the 
Holy Ones." Finally, a nice appearing chapel is built over 
the grave and furnished with a larger and finer grade of 
images and pictures. Here a group of people congregate from 
time to time, and kneeling on the ground in the open air — 
for the chapel may be only a few feet square — recite prayers 
before the Holy Ones. 

Fulfilling vows is common among the lower classes of the 
people. The following repulsive story is told of a young girl 
who visited a temple called Nossa Senhora da Penha, near 
Sao Paulo, to fulfill a vow. Getting down upon her knees at 
one end of the temple, and lifting her outer skirts that she 
might not soil them, she laid her tongue upon the bare floor 
which reeked with filth, and crawled slowly to the other end 
of the temple, trailing her tongue upon the nasty planks and 
leaving a damp track, like some great slug. Her father walked 
by her side, and as she came to the several steps in the floor, 
he stooped and lifted her head from step to step. Reaching 
the end of the temple, she rested and wiped the filth from 
her tongue with her handkerchief. She crawled from end 
to end of the temple in this manner four times, then departed. 

I copy herewith from a Brazilian newspaper, a letter which 
the president of one of the religious brotherhoods, that fre- 
quently have the care of the temple, is said to have written 
to a painter. Though it may not be genuine, it is, never- 
theless, true in principle, and shows how ludicrous this system 
of religion appears to many people. 

" Dear Sir : As president of the brotherhood, I write to 
inform you that our temple needs various repairs in the paint- 
ing ; the temple itself as well as the various images of the holy 
ones. The work of the greatest necessity and urgency, and 
which you will please attend to first, is as follows: Paint 
the heaven. Paint three clouds and fix up two old stars. 
Gild the sun and make needed repairs in the full moon. 
Paint a pupil in the eye of the good thief. Open a new 
window in Noah's ark. Paint a sore on the calf of the leg 
of St. Sebastian. Touch up the head of the Devil which is 

185 



Brazil. 

over the altar of St. Michael. Makes arms for S. Francisco 
who is to be placed on the stairs of the third order. Request 
the most skillful sculptor at your place to carve out with 
greater perfection two new eyes for the cock of the passion, 
also wings of wood." This describes somewhat the wor- 
ship of millions of people. 

It may be asked, Do not the civilized people of South 
America believe in Christ? The answer to this depends upon 
what is meant by believe in Christ. " The devils also believe 
and tremble." So do the Mohammedans believe in Christ. 
This question has already been answered, indirectly, in these 
pages. These people are acquainted with the salient his- 
torical facts of the birth and death of Jesus. These facts are 
represented in pantomine and caricatured before them often. 
But He is merely one, and not the most useful one, of a 
small army of " Holy Ones," or deified men, whom they 
recognize as their gods. All these personages are believed to 
have, during their earthly life, far " exceeded in righteousness 
all that Omnipotence requires of man," and thus to have left 
at the end a vast surplus of " merit," or righteousness, after 
liquidating all " demerit," or unrighteousness. They were far 
more than perfect. All these accumulations of " merit " are 
believed to have gone into one great fund, of which the priest 
is trustee and dispenser. A ledger is kept, we are assured, 
of every man's deeds, wherein, under the head of " merit," 
he is given credit for all his " good works," and under the 
head of " demerit," is charged with all his evil acts, or faults. 
Then, when the final accounting is made at death, if he is 
found spiritually insolvent, not having earned sufficient 
" merit " to liquidate all the " demerit " and square his ac- 
count, that is, to purchase eternal salvation with his own 
righteousness — in which all men have failed miserably, ex- 
cepting the " Holy Ones " — the surviving relatives must 
purchase enough " merit " from the priest to make up the 
shortage, else the deceased must burn for ages in the purga- 
torial debtors' prison until by his sufferings he shall have 
earned sufficient " merit " to settle his debt. This suggests 

186 



Brazil 

painfully the scene of a wretched, impoverished, defenceless 
bankrupt at the bar, the verdict of guilty, and the sentence 
of the court condemning him either to pay the last farthing, 
or to languish indefinitely in a vile dungeon. It is the in- 
quisition projected into the spirit world. The priest, in all 
these cases, is auditor, policeman, prosecutor, accusing witness, 
judge, jury, jailer and overseer of purgatory. The priest never 
transfers " merit," gratis, to the account of the unhappy 
debtor, but sells only for spot cash, at his own price. The 
salvation purchased by Christ for the benefit, without cost, of 
" whosoever believeth," or trusteth, in Him, is no more avail- 
able than is the food purchased by philanthropists to be 
given without price to famine sufferers, but which instead 
is held for sale at exhorbitant prices by villainous officials. 
In the same manner, the priest has appropriated to his own 
use the pardoning grace purchased by Christ to clear every 
debtor. Thus the Atonement has been done away with, and 
many priceless passages of Holy Writ have become meaning- 
less ; such, for example, as, " By grace are ye saved through 
faith ; and that not of yourselves : it is the gift of God : Not of 
works lest any man should boast." " The gift of God is eternal 
life through Jesus Christ." " Therefore being justified by faith, 
we have peace with God through our Lord Jesus Christ." 
" Whosoever shall call upon the name of the Lord shall be 
saved." " He that heareth my word, and believeth " — trusts — 
" on him that send me, hath everlasting life, and shall not come 
into condemnation ; but is passed from death unto life." 

Besides purchasing " merit " with money, the devotee of 
this religion may also, during life, acquire " merit," or right- 
eousness, to offset the " demerit " column by " reciting " 
prayers, attending religious ceremonies and festivals, making 
pilgrimages, visiting shrines, giving coppers to mendicants, and 
by torturing himself. But, however much " merit " one may 
buy during life, the priest nevertheless declares him wretch- 
edly bankrupt at the end and commits him to the flames until 
the shortage is made up. How extremely sad and hopeless 
is the prospect for one who is poor, or has no friends to pur- 

187 



Brazil 

chase " merit " for him ! This traffic in" merit," with purgatory 
awaiting the delinquent, was a source of vast revenue to the 
priests of Babylonia and ancient Egypt, and of pagan Rome; 
and still surviving, is a veritable mine of pure gold to the 
priests of to-day. It is nothing less than a world-wide con- 
spiracy that has swindled mankind for ages, causing untold 
anguish and despair. 

" Justification by faith" or, Salvation by Grace, free, without 
money and without price, that cannot be bought or earned in any 
degree, and assurance of acceptance with God, is fundamental 
to the Christianity of Christ. While, on the contrary, " ab- 
solution " by purchase, obtained with money or by labor or 
self-torture, or by enduring for ages the purgatorial fires, 
is fundamental to this modern paganism. According to 
God's Holy Word, " the blood of Jesus Christ * * * cleanseth 
us from all sin ; " but according to these pagan priests, pounds, 
penance and purgatory, alone, can " absolve " from sin. 



188 




An Ant Hi 



see Chapter xvi. 



Chapter XVI. 

SOCIAL CONDITIONS.— BENEVOLENCE (?)— DIS- 
POSAL OF UNWELCOME CHILDREN. — ST. 
JOHN'S FIRES.— DANCE OF ST. GONSALU. 
—HELL LET OUT.— NUTTING EXPEDI- 
TIONS.— FIGHTING WITH ANTS. 

I returned at once to the Rio do Somno. It was delight- 
ful canoeing on the Tocantines at this time of year. The 
dry season being now at its height, the water was very low 
and clear, revealing extensive sand-bars, all of which greatly 
enhanced the beauty of the river. What a world of glorious 
sunshine we lived in at this time. The days remained per- 
fectly cloudless for months, and the breezes were gentle and 
delightfully invigorating; a charming haziness hung over the 
land, like a benediction, and the weather was for months like 
a warm and most beautiful Indian Summer in North America. 
At night a profound silence reigned, as if Nature was silently 
worshipping her Creator, while the moon affectionately 
wrapped the earth in a flood of exquisitely charming and 
powerful light. To sleep seemed irreverent. This is the 
winter of North Central Brazil. 

As time passed, I was called upon more and more to sug- 
gest remedies for all kinds of ills with which the people were 
afflicted. I regretted that I did not have a case of specifics 
for the treatment of common ailments. I had now become the 
village doctor, dentist, school-master, minerologist, perambu- 
lating dictionary and encyclopaedia. All sorts of questions 
were brought to me for solution. Nearly every person ap- 
peared to be suffering from some physical disorder and need- 
ing medical attention. Venereal diseases, especially, are well- 

189 



Brazil. 

nigh universal in Brazil, and the number of persons slain in 
the flower of youth by these loathsome diseases, are as the 
sands of the seashore. Here is a rich field for patent medicine 
sharks. They believe thoroughly in their kind of foreign mis- 
sions. I have seen American patent medicine circulars in 
the remote interior of Brazil. 

One day, I visited by request, a youth who had been 
stricken suddenly with what appeared to be catalepsy. He 
lay on a dry ox-hide on the earthen floor of his dwelling, un- 
conscious, eyes staring, and moaning loudly. I could do 
nothing for the poor fellow, and he died twenty-four hours 
after being stricken. In the meantime, as the sick room re- 
mained crowded with people, and all the doors and windows 
were kept closed tightly, as is always done in Brazil when 
one is seriously ill, I urged that the windows be opened and 
that the visitors retire. Some hours before death occurred, 
a woman entered the sick room with a bunch of weeds. 
Selecting a few of the plants, and bending over the uncon- 
scious sufferer, she addressed him in a loud voice, saying: 
" Joseph ! Most Holy Mary suffered this same sickness ! 
Say, no ! " Then she made the sign of the cross several times 
on his forehead and breast with the magical weeds, and 
waved them over him. Again, she exclaimed : " Joseph ! 
Most Holy Mary suffered this same sickness ! Say, no ! " and 
again she crossed the patient and waved the weeds. Finally, 
she handed the plants to a child standing near with orders 
to take them out and burn them. I have read in the fifty-third 
of Isaiah that Jesus, and He only, bears our sins, our sorrows 
and our sicknesses. The death of the youth occurred at sunset 
and the family and friends passed the entire night, chanting, 
howling and wailing. 

Another day, I visited by request, a rude dwelling where 
lived an insane young woman. Her subject was, " That damn- 
able marriage ! " For some reason she was not permitted to 
marry a man to whom she was betrothed ; so he gave her some 
" bad medicine " or " bewitched " her in some way, I was 
told. She sang, talked, wept and screamed nearly the whole 

190 



Brazil 

of every twenty-four hours, and had been going on this way 
six or seven years, making life miserable for her unfortunate 
parents. 

Insane, idiotic and weak-minded persons are numerous in 
all such places as this. Vice and disease, which are nearly 
universal, and marriage between persons related by consan- 
guinity, being, probably, the principal causes. Conditions are 
very sad in this respect. A few doors from where I stayed 
was an insane man who was so dangerous that he was kept 
with his feet in the stocks in his own home. At another 
house, two of the four children were helpless idiots, knowing 
nothing whatever but to lie on their backs just as they were 
placed, and to squall and eat. One of them had an eye nearly 
as large as that of an ox. I was told that in the house next 
to this one, seven of the eight children were idiots. 

Institutions for the care of insane and weak-minded persons 
are few in South America. But refuges for the " exposed 
ones " — illegitimate and abandoned infants — are common. 
This suggests the question of philanthropy. It is rarely 
found where the Bible — the Mind of God — and the Son of 
Righteousness are not permitted to cast their transforming 
and ennobling Light. There are hospitals for the sick, 'tis 
true; and every person will give a copper to a beggar, which 
is a mode of purchasing merit. But with these exceptions, 
about the only giving is for the erection in great numbers of 
costly temples and the adorning of the images ; and the build- 
ing of monasteries, convents and the like for the glorifica- 
tion of the sacerdotal army. But giving for these objects is 
not benevolence, but from selfish motives — that one may pur- 
chase merit to shorten a few hundred years the time that one 
will be tortured in the flames in making atonement for oneself 
and becoming purified. 

Referring again to the " exposed ones," asylums exist 
in every important city to receive and care for these unhappy 
babes whose dishonored mothers wish to be relieved of them. 
At a small opening made in the wall of the enclosure, is 
mounted, a wheel, or circular box, like a bass drum. In the 

191 



Brazil 

rim of this drum, which rests on its side, is also an open- 
ing that matches the opening in the wall. On a dark night 
therefore, when the gates of the refuge are closed and barred 
and no person is near, the unhappy mother, wishing to hide her 
identity and her shame, injects her offspring into the drum, 
then gives the drum a semi-revolution which leaves the open- 
ing in it facing inside and at the same time rings a bell to 
inform the refuge attendent of the fresh deposit. This done, 
she vanishes, while an official comes and removes the child 
and cares for it. This is why these children are called " The 
Exposed Ones." It is thus easy to dispose of undesirable 
children, and at the same time, dishonor is relieved of some 
of its disagreeable features. The number of the " exposed 
ones " is very large. The priests, boasting of their philan- 
thropic institutions, point with pride to the army of children 
that are being reared in these refuges. 

While passing the gate of one of these receiving houses 
one dark night, I was startled and shocked to hear the wail 
of an infant, and to discover that the sound issued from a 
tiny bundle lying in the driveway close to the gate. Whoever 
had deposited the little creature there, did not know, appar- 
ently, of the receptacle provided to receive it at the opening 
in the wall. My first impulse was to hasten to the rescue of 
the little forsaken one; but before I could obey this impulse, 
better judgment came to me. I remembered that the night 
was warm, saw that the " exposed one " was well wrapped 
up, knew that its cry would soon be heard by a refuge at- 
tendant, and felt sure that the mother was lurking near. 

Throughout South America, one-quarter to one-half the 
births are illegitimate. Licentiousness, " the prostitution of 
love," is universal. Marital virtue among men is ridiculed and 
scoffed at as Utopian, and practical polygamy is general. 
Though a man cannot marry, legally, more than one wife, yet 
multitudes of men have more than one family, or maintain 
mistresses or concubines, the leading men everywhere being 
the chief offenders in this respect. These immoralities are 
not kept secret, but are open as the day. Such a life is no 

192 



Brazil 

disgrace to a man, but instead, is quite the order of things, 
and to be expected of every man. And why not when they 
have learned both by precept and example from their spiritual 
leaders, the priests, to " call evil good, and good evil ; " to 
" put darkness for light, and light for darkness ? " 

Among the common people, prostitutes are not " ostracized 
from society," but mingle with their neighbors on much the 
same footing as women honorably married. When, however, 
letters are addressed to such persons, the title, " Illma. Sra." 
— Most Illustrious Lady — which is always prefixed to the 
name of a respectable woman, must be omitted. 

Not many years have passed since in no city of Brazil, 
nor, probably, in the whole of South America, could a woman 
appear in the streets unaccompanied and be considered respect- 
able, not even during the day, much less at night; and this 
still holds true in many cities. While she may now go alone 
about the streets of the more southern cities during the day, 
yet she cannot do so after sunset, nor travel alone in a rail- 
way train, without running great risk of being insulted. It 
is always dangerous for a female to go unaccompanied, at 
any hour, along a country road or lane where she may be 
hidden momentarily from the view of other persons, for she 
is likely to be assaulted if she should meet a representative 
of the opposite sex. In short, nearly all the men consider a 
woman found alone their rightful prey. But a restraining 
feature to such infamous acts is that the offender must take 
chances of being shot at sight by a brother of his victim ; and 
such revenge will not be punished by the legal authorities as 
it is " a question of honor." 

That women may not go in and out freely but must seclude 
and hedge themselves about, somewhat as in Mohammedan 
lands, is, perhaps, why Brazil is a pedlars' paradise. Nearly 
everything that a family can possibly want is hawked about the 
streets from house to house in the large cities. Each class 
of pedlars has its own peculair cry, or sound. Here, a man 
is seen staggering under a stack of bolts of cotton goods and 
carrying in one hand a small tin trunk full of thread, needles, 

13 193 



Brazil 

buttons, ribbon and the like, and announcing himself by snap- 
ping continually a pair of wooden clappers. Across the way 
is seen a heap of tin ware, from which issues the sound of an 
iron spoon hammering a frying pan; up the street further 
is a pile of wooden soled slippers in motion ; yonder appears 
the broom man, uttering prolonged yells continually. Next, 
comes the tailor, blowing a horn, followed by the fish man 
carrying two large trays of fish swinging from each end of a 
long pole; then a vender with a big basket of vegetables on 
his head, and behind him the baker's man carrying also on 
his head a huge basket of bread, and calling, " Baker! Baker! " 
In the cities of North Brazil, numerous black or mulatto 
women are seen making their rounds of the streets selling 
various little cakes at a fraction of a cent each from trays 
carried on their heads. 

" Saint John's Day " was celebrated at the Rio do Somno 
with various observances. One of the first things done was 
to bathe in the river as the water was thought to be holy and 
to impart some virtue, such as health of body, or to confer 
" merit." 

Beliefs in " holy water " and " holy rivers," and that health 
or " merit " or spiritual regeneration, may be gained by being 
sprinkled with, or bathing in such, are as old, seemingly, as 
the human race, and have spread over the whole world. 
These beliefs are thought to have originated from the fact 
that down through the ages various distinguished persons 
have lived, who, in the march of time after their decease, 
came to be regarded, first as heroes, then supernatural char- 
acters, and finally, were canonized or apotheosized. There- 
fore the real or imaginary great deeds done by them during 
life are regarded as the doings of gods. Moreover, each of 
these " holy ones," is worshipped in different localities under 
different names and forms indicative and commemorative in 
each case of some one of his supposed exploits, or of a crisis 
in his life. Anciently, kings and emperors were apotheosized ; 
so also the Roman pontiffs. Nimrod, mentioned in the book 
of Genesis, is one of these " great ones." Tradition relates 

194 



Brazil 

that, once, while fleeing from his enemies, he embarked upon 
the sea. Therefore, as the centuries passed and he came to 
be a great " holy one " or god, in the belief of the ancient 
pagan world, the waters were believed to have been made 
" holy " because the god had entered into them, and blessed 
them by communicating his virtue to them. So, on the annual 
recurrence of this " Saint's Day," bathing in streams was 
indulged in. Thus the real historical Nimrod was evolved 
into the mythological Neptune. He also became Dagon, the 
fish-formed god of the Philistines, from whose cult comes 
the mitre — the jaws of the fish — worn by Romish high priests 
of the present day. " Saint John " — meaning John the Bap- 
tist — seems to have been made a kind of successor to Nimrod 
as regards regeneration by water. 

Referring again to " Saint John's Day " at the Rio do 
Somno : Wood was stacked in the middle of the street in 
front of each house some days previous, so at night, on the 
vesper day, each family had its own private bonfire; all of 
which produced a charming effect. Pairs of individuals per- 
form ceremonies around these " Saint John's Fires " to relate 
themselves one to another, as brother and sister, for instance. 
Joining hands, they circumscribe the fire three times ; and as 
they do so, one exclaims, " Long live Saint John ! " and the 
other responds, " May Saint John live long ! " Then the 
first speaker again exclaims, " Long live my sister ! " and the 
other replies, "May my brother live long!" The young 
people also jump through these fires, religiously, reminding 
one of a heathen practice mentioned in the Old Testament, 
where parents forced their children to pass through the fire 
in worship of Moloch. Brands from these and other " holy 
fires " are eagerly seized by these superstitious people, taken 
home and carefully preserved, as they are believed to bring 
health and other benefits to the possessors. 

On the night of " Saint John's Day " occurs the dance of 
" Saint Gonsalu." It takes place usually on the dry grass in 
front of one of the houses, and is participated in by unmarried 
women and girls, only. The time I witnessed the performance 

195 



Brazil 

was one of those wonderfully silent and charming nights at 
the season of the year when all nature is indulging in its 
annual sleep; and the full moon deluged the earth with a 
delicious radiance, causing the dancers, who were all dressed 
in white, to appear fairy-like. A simple altar was set up 
by spreading a towel over a rough stand and placing upon 
this the " holy one," Saint Gonsalu. Each dancer dances 
singly, and the whole company, moving in unison and hold- 
ing arched over their heads, bows like barrel hoops, decorated 
with bright ribbons, advances slowly toward the " image," 
then retires backward, singing plaintively, " Saint Gonsalu 
has a star in his forehead," and oscillating gently their 
bodies. They also execute various evolutions somewhat like 
a calisthenic class. The dancing over, all kneel before the 
" Holy One " and kiss it, after which it is removed. " Saint 
Gonsalu " appears to be a sort of cupid. 

One of the very few streets in the village is called " Lost 
Street." It was given this name by spontaneous consent be- 
cause it was the scene of so many fights, knifings, murders 
and other crimes. It is the " slum " or " red light district " 
of the village, and the place where the lowest groggeries exist. 
It is in this street — it seems like jesting to dignify such a 
runway with the name of street — that the Bacchanalian orgies, 
or ribald dances, known locally as Pagodes, occur. These 
saturnalias are of most frequent occurrence at the villages 
along the river when the trading boats going to and from 
Para, tie up to the bank and remain, as they do, several days 
and nights, turning loose their horde of paddlers to " Paint 
the Devil." They make darkness hideous night after night 
with their vulgar songs, boisterous laughing like coyotes 
serenading, lewd jesting, clapping of hands, dancing, and 
fighting when the spirit of Bacchus begins to move them. 
It sounds as if hell had just let out. The security of the 
entire village is sometimes endangered, and many people se- 
clude themselves in -their houses and bar the doors. 

The revelry begins when two or more men, meeting at a 
groggery, treat each other to a bottle of rum; then drinking 

196 



Brazil 

freely, they take to dancing, clapping their hands to beat 
time, and singing little improvised ditties in praise of one 
another. It suggests the idea of two or three hungry wolves 
meeting and horning to call together the pack. Many other 
individuals of the same character, including dissolute fe- 
males, hearing the tumult, gradually congregate; and as the 
night wears on, the merry making often develops into a 
pandemonium. 

The trading boats make but one voyage each year to 
Para. They descend the Tocantines in March when the 
water is high, and return between May and October when the 
water is low, consuming six months or more in making the 
round trip. They take to Para hides, chiefly, and some rubber, 
bringing back a cargo of coarse, dirty salt and general mer- 
chandise. The traders buy the hides for fifty or sixty cents 
each and sell them for about three dollars each, thus realizing 
a nice profit, despite the great expense of the voyage. 

Ascending the river, the oarsmen have to exert themselves 
to the utmost, poling and paddling, to overcome the strong 
current; and have to pass several dangerous rapids. In order 
to ascend these rapids, everything must be removed from the 
boats and carried perhaps a mile or two by the men on their 
backs or heads ; then they drag up the boats by means of 
long ropes, jumping and plunging from rock to rock with 
great agility and daring. Unfortunately, nearly all the rivers 
of the Amazon system are blocked at the mouth by zones 
of rapids, making them impassable to large vessels. Never- 
theless, the Amazon and its tributaries has nearly fifty 
thousand miles of navigable water. 

Besides the "trading boats just mentioned that navigate 
the Araguaya and Tocantines, there are nutting boats en- 
gaged in the harvest of the " Nut of Para " or Cream Nut — 
the seed of the Bertholletia Excelsa, known to commerce as the 
Brazil, or " Nigger Toe Nut." These boats start for the nut 
groves in November each year, and discharge their cargoes 
at Para in February or March ; therefore our Christmas Brazil 
nuts are a year old. 

197 



Brazil. 

The Bertholletia Excelsa is a very large, beautiful and ma- 
jestic tree, attaining a height of one hundred twenty feet. The 
nuts are encased in a pericarp nearly as large as the human 
head, and so hard that it requires a sledge-hammer blow to 
break it. There are twelve to twenty-four nuts in each peri- 
carp. The nuts require a year or more to mature, hence the 
trees may be seen loaded with blossoms and with ripe fruit 
at the same time. It is perilous to pass under the trees when 
the cannon-ball like nuts are falling from a height of one 
hundred feet or more, for they descend with a crash, snapping 
off heavy boughs, and men are sometimes killed by them. 
These very interesting trees are found chiefly at the junctions 
of the rivers Negro and Madeira with the Amazon. They 
exist also along the Orinoco. The pericarp is split open with 
an axe as the nuts are gathered. 

Another nut, which is similar to the Brazil nut, but said 
to be much superior to it, is the fruit of the monkey pot 
tree, (Lecythis Ollaria). The nut grows in a pericarp which 
resembles a rusty iron pot with a lid; and when the pot falls 
from the tree, the lid comes off and the nuts drop out. This 
nut is unknown to commerce. 

Before embarking on a nutting expedition, each boat is 
provisioned with the sun-cured meat of twenty cattle, and a 
large quantity of manioc meal. This is all these men have 
to live upon, except an occasional fish, yet they consider them- 
selves well fed. 

While at the Rio do Somno village, I became interested as 
perhaps never before in reading the prophetic books of the 
Old Testament. Much that I read pictured with surprising 
correctness the moral and social conditions existing around me. 
The first and fifth chapters of Isaiah are elsewhere referred to. 
Jeremiah wrote of the people of his time that they were highly 
educated and experts in wrong doing ; that they would not listen 
to the Word of God and were ashamed of it; that they had 
ceased to even mention truth or right, but instead, made them- 
selves weary teaching and practicing evil ; that the priests — the 
spiritual leaders of the people — were wholly unacquainted with 

198 



Brazil 

virtue, but trained and skilled in vice. That the people had 
left the fountain of Living Water, and had sought water at 
dry, or stagnant pools; that they substituted the opinions of 
their own wicked hearts for the law of the Most High; that 
they were prostitutes — idolaters — because, instead of loving 
and worshipping Jehovah, they worshipped " images ; " that 
their gods were as numerous as their towns and villages ; and, 
finally, Jeremiah records that he was divinely commanded to 
search diligently through the streets of Jerusalem to see if he 
could find even one true man. 

One day, I gave a Testament to a woman I met at a neigh- 
bor's house, because she seemed to enjoy listening to me read 
from it. But she returned it a week afterward saying that 
her friends had assured her that after my departure from the 
village, " The Dog " — Satan — would visit her and take it from 
her, so she feared to have it in the house. I replied that 
evidently his satanic majesty had not even waited for me to 
depart, but had already persuaded her to give up the Book. 

Once, I was visited by two young men from a village 
some hundreds of miles further down the Tocantines where 
my mail was sent once by mistake. Of course, every one in 
the village learned instantly of the arrival of this mail, and 
talked about it. It was presumed that I would appear there 
soon ; and this goaded the village priest to harangue his 
people in the temple regarding me and my abominable voca- 
tion. These men rarely utter a discourse to instruct the people, 
contenting themselves with merely reciting the ritual, save 
when a person like myself appears to incite them to speak 
in the language of the people. This priest ordered his sub- 
jects to refuse me even a cup of cold water, under pain of 
immediate excommunication. Hearing this, I read to my 
visitors the words of Christ that any one giving a cup of 
water to one of His disciples should not lose his reward; and 
how to treat a real or supposed enemy. These words sur- 
prised my visitors much for they saw how diametrically op- 
posed to God's Word this man's teachings were. Some time 
afterward, a medical missionary, ascending the Tocantines, 

199 



Brazil 

called at this village, and finding the priest ill, treated him 
free of charge. 

Encouraging experiences were granted me from time to 
time. Just before starting on a journey to trade for rubber, 
a man who had become interested in the Gospel, and had ex- 
pressed his determination to follow Christ and His Law, de- 
sired me to give him a few Bibles and my Scripture pamphlet 
to distribute among the people where he was going. I gladly 
complied, for I was about to suggest this to him. Returning, 
he gave a cheering report, relating, among other things, that 
he was invited to lodge one night at a certain ranch so that 
he might spend the evening reading God's Word to the family 
and talking with them concerning it; and that, reading the 
Gospel at another house, the listeners were much affected by 
what they called " the wonderful story." 

As might be surmised, my lodging place was barren of 
furniture. My hammock was not only the bed, but also chair, 
rocking-chair and sofa. Seated in it, I did all my writing, 
using my knee as a writing desk. To dine, one of my boxes 
was placed near the hammock for a table. I could not read 
much at night because the best light I could get was a dim 
petroleum torch. The price of the oil was seventeen cents 
the quart. An exhausted larder became a fixed condition. 
We were continually eating the last of everything without 
knowing when more would appear. I dreamed one night that, 
entering a large store, I saw the shelves from floor to ceil- 
ing burdened with all kinds of bread — new bread, old bread, 
rye bread, and Graham bread. I thought I had never seen 
anything more beautiful. One day, when provisions were un- 
usually scarce, the man with whom I boarded ( ?) at the time, 
secured the lungs of a beef with a fragment of liver and 
heart, and what not? attached, and boiled the mass for our 
one meal. 

Whenever I had a bit of food on hand, I had to wage 
a ceaseless warfare with the ants to prevent their devouring 
it or carrying it away, arising several times during the night 
and going at them with fire — the only way to bring about a 

200 



Brazil. 

few hours' truce in their activities. They are the most preda- 
tory, and the most relentless, untiring and ingenious enemies 
that men have to contend with in Brazil. There are six hun- 
dred varieties of ants in Brazil alone. Armies of them steal 
into the house during the quiet hours of night, lug off the 
rice and manioc meal, and devour the sugar and meat. They 
have been known to filch a bushel of rice or meal in one night. 
Yet they do not appear to use this material for food. The only 
way to keep provisions from them is to place it upon a table, 
the legs of which stand in tins filled with water. 

These same pillaging red ants often execute such extensive 
engineering works under the house, and so pile up the earth 
they remove as to seriously endanger the house. Sometimes 
a small and very agile ant is introduced into the house to 
exterminate the large ants. Being very quick in their move- 
ments, they outclass their big relatives, and cutting off their 
legs, they rid the house of them. But this is only to exchange 
one evil for another as one has the small ants to contend with 
instead of the large ones; but they are often considered the 
lesser evil of the two. 

White ants, or termites, also enter the house, and colon- 
izing under the roof, reduce to dust boxes and trunks and their 
contents. They might also reduce the house itself to dust, 
if it were built of pine. 

Foraging ants, Ecitonis legionis, also swarm into houses en- 
masse on their periodical raids. They do not wait for night, 
but come in open day, and in such force that the human oc- 
cupants surrender the house to them. Fortunately, their visit 
lasts but an hour or two. They are scavengers, or house 
cleaners, par excellence. They rush by thousands into every 
crack and chink, devouring on the spot every kind of insect 
vermin and their eggs, even to killing mice. When everything 
is consumed, their grand army corps march on promptly until 
not a straggler is left. They might not hesitate to devour the 
human occupants of a house also, were they bound and help- 
less. Some of these foraging ants appear to be wholly no- 
madic, having no permanent abiding place. 

201 



Brazil 

If, while traveling, one should pitch near the mound of 
a variety of these ferocious foraging ants, they might, in a 
single night, cut tent, saddles and baggage to pieces, reduc- 
ing everything to circular bits about as large as a dime. We 
have had to shift our camp because of them. 

The red ants raise havoc with cultivated fruit trees, cut- 
ting off the leaves. One big gang of scissor operators as- 
cends a tree and simply cuts off the leaves at the stems; 
while other hordes, working upon the ground, cut them into 
pieces convenient to carry, as they fall. And lastly, the com- 
mon laborers, going to and fro in long processions between 
the tree and their subterranean headquarters, carry the bits 
of leaves, holding them up like sails ; and however often the 
wind tips the little workmen over, like the upsetting of a 
sail-boat, they right themselves and march on. If one should 
listen carefully some night near a tree in which they are work- 
ing, he would hear the low murmur of thousands of little 
shears ; and in the morning, not a leaf would be found on 
the tree. 

While the ants are a great pest, they nevertheless consume 
fabulous numbers of worms and insects and their eggs. They 
live a strenuous life, for they labor day and night, display- 
ing marvelous energy, and never seem to grow weary. They 
are wonderful engineers, for they have tunneled the whole 
land with an inconceivably vast net-work of underground 
passages. The tiller of the soil must battle with them cease- 
lessly if he would save his fruit trees. 

One method of exterminating them, or rather, of reducing 
their numbers, is to hoe off the top of the great formicary, or 
ant mound, which is eight or ten feet broad, so that when 
the little engineers remove the earth that has been crushed 
into their tunnels, the main trunk lines will stand revealed. 
Then, into the mouth of each one of these is poured, first a 
little water, next, about two tablespoonfuls of a quick-burning, 
sulphurous liquid; and when all is ready, a lighted match is 
tossed in to the entrance of one of the tunnels, which causes 
an explosion at all the entrances, and fills the passages with 

202 



Brazil 

poisonous fumes, thus destroying the colony, or the greater 
part of it. 

A much more effective method of annihilating a colony, 
is to find the main passage in the manner just described ; then 
take a two-gallon clay jug having a small hole in the bottom, 
fill it with sulphur, resin and kindling, place it so that, resting 
partly on its side, the hole in the bottom matches the en- 
trance to the ant subway, throw into it some glowing coals, 
hastily insert the nozzle of a bellows into the mouth of the 
jug, begin pumping the bellows and quickly cover the jug 
and the bellows nozzle with green grass and earth so that the 
sulphur fumes will be forced into the tunnels and all their 
ramifications in the vicinity. 

That ants exist in amazing numbers, and that there are 
numerous varieties, is evident from the vast number and 
variety of ant hills. Indeed, the whole of Brazil is one mighty 
ant metropolis. One kind builds its tower fifteen or twenty 
feet high. Several kinds sting as well as bite ; one of which, 
a very large black kind, stings worse than a hornet, while 
another, which is very minute, is so pugnacious, and attacks 
men in such great numbers and with such ferocity that they 
have compelled the total abandonment of a village of its human 
inhabitants. Their sting is like the insertion into the flesh 
of hundreds of red-hot needles. The largest ant in Brazil is 
the Dinoponera grandis, the workers of which attain a length 
of one and a quarter inches, while the females reach the great 
length of two and a quarter inches. They are nomads, march- 
ing in single file. 

There are various creatures that subsist upon ants. The 
most important is the great ant bear — myrmcophaga jubata — 
which lives chiefly upon termites, or white ants. It digs into 
the formicary, or mound, with its powerful, pick-axe like claws, 
then extends into the excavation its long, slender tongue, 
which is coated with a sticky mucose. This is quickly 
freighted with the pugnacious insects who resent the intru- 
sion; then the brute draws in its tongue, swallows, and puts 
it out again for a fresh cargo. Another big ant eater is the 

203 



Brazil. 

tatu canastro (Pyrondontes gigas), a giant nocturnal arma- 
dillo, as large as a small trunk. Some of the savages of the 
Amazon region make a kind of dressing of ants, which is said 
to be not unpalatable. 

One of the most interesting ant-eating insects is a kind 
of tarantula. It enters an ant skyscraper, or tower, by the 
main entrance; and having set up housekeeping under the ro- 
tunda, it plays the cannibal at the expense of the dwellers 
in this great family hotel of antdom until not a " roomer " is 
left. It then removes to another ant " tenement " and re- 
peats the performance. One can always distinguish a tower 
in which a tarantula is living because of its appearance of 
neglect, like the drunkard or the sluggard's home. 



204 



Chapter XVII. 

CANOEING ON THE RIO DO SOMNO.— A WONDER- 
FUL AWAKENING OF NATURE.— CHERENTE 
HAMLETS. 

At length, one morning, I heard unusual voices just out- 
side my door, and my name spoken in the English tongue. 
A moment later, I found myself face to face with Mr. George 
R. Witte, a missionary who had become interested in the 
aboriginal peoples of Brazil ; and having ascended the river 
Tocantines from Para, found me, as it were, in this far away 
place. Though we had never before met, yet in my extreme 
isolation, it was as great a pleasure to see him as if he had 
been an old and very dear friend. I was overjoyed to hear 
and converse once more in my beloved mother tongue, which 
I had not heard a word of for nearly a year. But owing to 
my long silence in this language, and being surprised by Mr. 
Witte, I found, to my astonishment and embarrassment, much 
difficulty in speaking it. I seemed for a moment to have for- 
gotten my native speech. My confusion lasted but a mo- 
ment, however, and I soon regained my wonted fluency in 
English. After conversing for a time, surrounded by a group 
of villagers who were desirous of hearing us speak what was 
to them a strange language, Mr. Witte invited me to break- 
fast with him down by the river, as he had shot and stewed 
a wild fowl. But when we came to eat, my entertainer dis- 
covered that I had already responded considerably to " the 
call of the wild," or was reverting to the state of primitive 
man, as I seemed to need no longer the tools of civilization 
to enable me to eat. 

Soon after this event, Mr. Witte and I ascended the Rio 



205 



Brazil* 

do Somno about one hundred miles in a canoe to visit some 
scattering groups of the Cherente tribe, consuming one week 
in the round trip. We hired a canoe for the journey at a 
cost of one dollar and fifty cents, and two men as paddlers 
at two dollars each and their food, which cost but little. These 
men thought themselves well paid; and they were, consider- 
ing the scale of wages in this region. Muleteers often received 
but the equivalent of two dollars per month and their food — 
which was very scant. 

The Rio do Somno, which is not navigable for any large 
craft, except during high water, is from sixty to two hundred 
yards wide, full of rapids and shallow places, and has a strong 
current ; while the banks are twenty or thirty feet high, which 
is high-water mark, and lined with jungle and woodlands. 
Like the Tocantines, this river has no well refined valley, 
being merely the lowest point in a slight, gradual, though 
extensive depression, where it cuts a clean, narrow channel 
through the endless waste of jungle and forest. The over- 
land traveler would not guess of the river's existence until 
he found himself at the water's edge. 

To me, canoeing on this pretty little river at this season 
was a continual delight, and I shall always recall these days 
with the keenest pleasure. The first rain, terminating the 
long dry season, occurred while we were ascending the river, 
and resulted in a sudden and wonderful change in the whole 
aspect of Nature. I could scarcely have believed that such 
a marvelous transformation could have occurred so suddenly. 
Lovely May, as it were, rose from the bosom of March like 
adorable Venus emerging from the ocean spray. As if by 
magic, the grass, that had lain dead and scorched for months, 
became instantly green ; the trees revived and shook out their 
beautiful foliage in almost a single night; the birds of the 
air awakened and began to sing their joyous pre-nuptial songs ; 
while the myriad insect life aroused from its annual repose 
and joined in an inconceivably vast hallelujah chorus. A 
transparent haziness, like a phosphorescence, covered the land 
like a mantle of glory. The breezes became balmy and deli- 

206 



Brazil 

ciously fragrant and refreshing ; and the sun shone with a mar- 
velously soft and delightful effulgence. 

Just after entering the mouth of the river, beginning 
our journey, we disembarked for breakfast. Turtle. eggs con- 
stituted our principal dish, which we boiled fifteen minutes 
and mixed with corn meal and brick sugar, the native method 
of preparing them. Brazilians think this dish a delicacy, but 
I have eaten food that I liked better. The whites of these 
eggs appeared to be mere water. 

As there was no sign of rain, the first night, we hung 
our hammocks under large trees to enjoy the fresh night air. 
Just after lying down, we heard a large animal — a tapir, 
doubtless — crashing through the jungle toward us, but it 
changed its course when within a hundred feet of us. 

As rain was threatening the second night, we stayed at 
a miserable little hut on the river bank. But the shanty was so 
small that there was room for only one of us to suspend his 
hammock inside; so I swung my hammock between a corner 
post of the hovel — which threatened to come down — and a 
near-by stub, having only the sky for a roof. Not seeing 
the ranchman's wife, and inquiring of him where she was, we 
were told that she was ill. . But after leaving the place, one 
of our men told us that she was not ill, but instead, so nearly 
nude that she had remained hidden during our stay. We 
had observed that the children were nude, and the man him- 
self scantily attired. The family was living in extreme 
poverty, though in a land of great natural wealth. 

The second day, Mr. Witte shot two large, blue macaws 
for our breakfast; but the meat was so tough that we could 
scarcely make any impression upon it, so had to content our- 
selves with the broth only. The flesh of these birds must be 
stewed several hours to become tender. Hence, they say in 
Brazil, when one delays long in keeping an appointment, that 
" he is cooking macaw." Birds of the parrot family, which 
includes the macaw, are so affectionate that when one is shot, 
its mate may also be taken, as they will not forsake one 
another. 



207 



Brazil 

We were fortunate in finding a large ranch in which to 
pass the third night as there was much rain falling. During 
the evening, I noticed the ranchman eyeing me attentively. 
Having heard the story that I had a web foot, he was very 
curious to know if it were true. Finally, having satisfied his 
curiosity, he burst into speech with " What damnable people 
to believe the beastly story that this man has a web foot!" 
He, like many other persons, pretended to be altogether too 
intelligent to credit such an absurdity, yet he had really more 
than half believed it. This opened the way for a long talk 
with the man and his family concerning the Gospel. 

We began soon to encounter little groups of the Cherente. 
Immediately upon our approach becoming known to the in- 
habitants of each cluster of huts, those who had a rag of 
clothing donned it so as to honor their visitors by appearing 
at their very best. But only a few individuals possessed even 
a single garment. Habitually, as soon as visitors are gone, 
these garments are removed and laid aside for the next oc- 
casion, for when these people are alone, they live in absolute 
nudity. 

The Cherente living along the Rio do Somno, exist in a 
miserable condition — in extreme poverty and degradation. 
They are branches broken from the main stem of the tribe, 
and have lost much of the spirit and independence of the 
old-time tribal life. Famine conditions, almost, prevailed 
among them at the time of our visit, for game is no longer 
abundant in this region, and the small quantity of food ob- 
tained the previous season from agriculture was now entirely 
exhausted; but they gave us, at the first place we visited, a 
chicken, a few eggs and a taste of wild honey, in exchange 
for some small articles we had. Much to our regret, our 
supplies were now greatly reduced, so we could give them 
only a few fish hooks. They begged salt of us, for they had 
acquired a taste for it, besides, they needed it to preserve 
meat. 

We reached the end of our journey the fifth day, and sus- 
pended our hammocks for the night in a hut occupied by two 

208 



Brazil 

Cherente families, where we had a pleasant and profitable 
visit. Only the old captain, who was the head of the house, 
and his son, a young man, had any clothing whatever, and 
they only cotton trousers and shirts, in which they dressed 
themselves just as we arrived. These families appeared to 
be in somewhat better circumstances than the other Cherente 
families we had seen along the river. They had felled and 
burned off some two acres of woods, ready to plant the 
ground to corn and root crops. Since they had some knowl- 
edge of the civilized language, we had interesting talks with 
them, taught them a little of the Gospel, and at the same 
time, gathered some information from them. The young man 
seemed unusually intelligent and very desirous of learning 
to read and write. Though for fifty years these Cherente have 
been under the authority of the priests, yet no school of any 
kind has ever been established for them, nor have they ever 
been taught anything, except to recite a brief prayer or two. 

One day, we got the men to shooting at a target with bows 
and arrows. Their markmanship proved to be good, and they 
shot the spear-like arrows with great force. Finally, Mr. 
Witte brought out his rifle, and struck the bull's-eye the 
first shot. The accuracy of the aim and the force of the pro- 
jectile filled our dusky friends with astonishment. 

On our return journey, we consumed but one day, for we 
traveled rapidly, having the current to assist us, and did not 
have to struggle with the rapids. We shot this day a lizard, 
some thirty inches in length, of a kind that lives in certain 
trees, upon the leaves of which it subsists almost exclusively. 
It is found only in these trees close to the edge of the river, 
into which it jumps or rushes when driven from the trees, 
remaining at the bottom until all danger is past. Brazilians 
often catch it by one man climbing up into the tree to 
frighten it out, while a second hides near the water to ob- 
serve just where it goes, having ascertained which, he plunges 
in, seizes it with his hands, drags it to shore and bangs its 
head against a rock. I climbed a tree once to frighten one 
out while my Brazilian companion waited for it near the 

14 209 



Brazil 

water. It jumped forty feet to the ground, striking the limbs 
of trees in its fall. But, in this instance, it did not make for 
the water. Perhaps it scented danger, for it ran in another 
direction and dashed into a hole in the ground. 

As the flesh of these creatures is edible, we amused our- 
selves, as we journeyed, cleaning and skinning our catch. 
The meat is white and looks good, but I cannot say that 
my mouth watered to eat it, for it looked too much like a 
young alligator; and when coiled in the pot as it stewed, 
it resembled a serpent. Nevertheless, I ate of the broth 
which tasted like chicken broth. Brazilians consider this meat 
a delicacy. The reptile is hard to shoot, for the shot glances 
when it strikes its tough, scaly hide. 

Another kind of large lizard seeks out the farmer's corn- 
crib and other buildings, attracted by the rats upon which 
it feeds. But while eating rats, it is not averse to eating 
hens' eggs and young chickens as a variation in its diet. 
When hard pressed, it drops a foot or more of its posterior 
extremity which snaps off like a pipe-stem, but no blood 
appears. One day I saw two boys devouring raw such an 
appendage which had been dropped in flight by a lizard they 
were pursuing. 

The same day, Mr. Witte shot a boa-constrictor as it 
was swimming rapidly with its head high out of the water, 
like a dog. To our disappointment, it sank in deep water, 
so we lost it. When we first saw it, it was on a sand-bank, 
busy swallowing something, probably a rat. It was a small 
one, being not over seven or eight feet long, and lived on 
land. 

As we paddled along in the afternoon, Mr. Witte remarked 
that he had never yet seen a wild monkey in its native haunts. 
We had not gone far when he not only had the satisfaction of 
seeing one sitting in a tree watching us pass, but also the 
pleasure of shooting it. We pulled ashore for it, but met with 
difficulty in securing it, for, though dead, it still clung to a 
limb of the tree. A native cook stewed it for us when we ar- 
rived at the village, for we were told that it was edible; be- 

210 



Brazil 

sides, Mr. Witte desired to " prove " every kind of game. We 
found the meat much like chicken, and relished it — the more, 
perhaps, because every kind of food was scarce. 

When within a few miles of the village, we discovered 
a cow fast in the mud in about three feet of water near the 
river bank, waiting to die. This was big game; but we took 
pity on the poor brute. Going ashore provided with the long 
rope used to drag our canoe up the rapids, we toiled half an 
hour, lifting, tailing and hauling, and urging " get up bossy," 
until we finally pulled the animal out onto firm ground. 

At twilight, just before landing at the village, we saw 
dimly outlined against the sky, an arboreal gallinaceous fowl, 
called a jakoo, roosting on a branch of a tree almost directly 
above our heads. — That is, we all saw it except Mr. Witte, 
our Nimrod. I expected every moment to see our game take 
flight, but it waited patiently for us. " There it is, right up 
there! Can't you see it?" But, no, he could not see it. So, 
begging the gun, I fired, and the bird came tumbling down 
almost into the canoe. It was a valuable contribution to our 
cuisine. 

Arrived at the village, we found that preparations were 
being made for a festa to the " Divine One " — the Holy Spirit 
— to be celebrated the following Sunday, so we had to wait 
until it was over. 

The emperor, or president of the feast, who was the leading 
merchant of the village, but not married to the woman who 
was living with him as his wife, was crowned Saturday eve- 
ning. Following the coronation, a flag-pole was raised, sur- 
mounted by a rude picture of a dove, after which, a kind of 
food sale was held to raise money for the feast. A long table 
was placed in the square in front of the temple, upon which 
was arranged the viands, consisting principally of roast beef 
and pork, roast chickens, small, home-made cheeses, slabs of 
a kind of native bread, manioc and corn-meal cakes and a few 
sweet-meats. Everything was sold at auction ; and perhaps 
because these articles had been presented as offerings to the 
" Divine One," they were bid up and sold at prices five or 

211 



Brazil. 

sixfold their real value. I had hoped to " pick up " some- 
thing to replenish our usually bare larder, but the prices rose 
far beyond my reach. I could have bought a horse with the 
money that a tray of ten pounds of cheese sold at. While 
the sale was in progress, the emperor, wearing the little iron 
crown and surrounded by his court, sat near by. After the 
sale, the emperor, with the multitude at his heels, repaired to his 
palace where dancing became the order of the night, and coffee 
and whiskey flowed freely. The feast day — Sunday — was 
passed in amusement and revelry. At evening, the festivities 
were shifted to the house of the etnperor-elect. 



212 



Chapter XVIII. 
THE KARA6H TRIBE.— THE LOG RACE. 

Desiring to visit two encampments of a tribe called the 
Karaoh, situated one hundred miles from the Rio do Somno 
village, we contracted with a man having four horses to con- 
vey us there and back. As we were to be absent but a few 
days, we took little baggage, which included only hammocks 
and blankets, a stew pot and coffee kettle, iron plates, forks 
and spoons, and some food; also a kodak. This made but 
a light load for one horse, so we were enabled to travel 
rapidly. 

When all was ready, we marched forth in fine style to the 
Rio do Somno, which we had to cross. Arriving there, we 
found that the canoe with which we were to ferry ourselves 
over, was at the opposite side. To get it, our man and his 
young son removed their clothing, tied it into rolls and secured 
it to their heads to keep it above the water, got astride of bun- 
dles of bamboo poles and swam across to the canoe. When they 
returned with it, we loaded our luggage into it, got two. of 
the horses into the water — for we had to swim them over — 
exchanged good-byes with a few friends who had come to 
the river to see us off and to wish us a " safe journey " and 
a " happy return/' Then embarking, we began to pull proudly 
away, Mr. Witte steering, I paddling, and our man sitting in 
the bow of the canoe to guide the horses by the halter ropes. 
We had moved but a few yards, though we were in deep 
water, when the bow of our fickle craft — which was too deep 
for its width — perched suddenly on a submerged snag. As 
we were trying to get it clear of this obstruction, it slipped 

213 



Brazil 

off unexpectedly, tipped, filled with water, and started in- 
stantly for the bottom of the river, while our effects started 
no less rapidly for Para, as the current was strong at this 
point. Seeing the course things were taking, we all sprang 
hastily for land. We succeeded in fishing all our effects out 
of the water, but of course, everything got wet. I felt vexed 
and disappointed at first as the accident seemed inexcusable 
and would delay us until the following day. However, when 
everybody and everything was safe on shore, we were all so 
much like half-drowned rats, and the whole situation was so 
ludicrous, that we could not but laught heartily at ourselves. 
The only thing to do now was to gather up our effects and 
slink back to the village where we might dry them. 

We got an early start the following day, crossed the river 
safely and rode about twenty-five miles, sheltering ourselves 
for the night under a piece of roof that we found standing 
on four posts near the hut of an old negro. 

We were off again by seven o'clock the next morning, 
and rode fifty or sixty miles during the day through an un- 
inhabited territory. We were forced to make this long march 
in order to reach a place where water could be obtained. 
No rain had fallen for months in this district, and all the 
water courses were dry. We crossed the beds of several 
which were raging, impassable torrents during the rainy sea- 
son. We halted at midday for breakfast where there was a 
mere puddle of warm, stagnant water in the bed of a dry 
water-course, and where beasts, birds and reptiles came to 
slake their thirst. We, also, had to use this water. This was 
a very exhausting day's ride. Excepting two hours at noon, 
we were in the saddle from seven in the morning until nine 
or ten o'clock at night. One of our party who was unaccus- 
tomed to horseback riding, dismounted two or three times 
after nightfall and sat down in the trail declaring that he 
could go no further. But we had to press on. The night 
was very dark and the trail obscure, and our guide dismounted 
several times and felt around on the ground with his hands 
to make sure that we had not missed our way. There was 

214 



Brazil 

also danger in passing through lines of woods, for here we 
could discern nothing, and bushes bristling with long thorns 
reached out over our path. 

At last, we heard the most welcome music of running water, 
and hastened to quench our intense thirst and that of our 
horses. Fording the stream, we wandered about briefly search- 
ing for a camping place when we had the good fortune to 
strike upon another little roof standing upon four posts, in a 
solitary place, and camped under it for the night. 

A short ride the next morning brought us to a small cattle 
ranch where we were treated to the luxury of a good drink of 
fresh milk. As the ranchman was familiar with the trails, 
we got him to conduct us to the nearest Karaoh village, called 
the Gamaleira, which we reached at midday, though we had 
to perform some equestrian feats in getting down and up 
the steep, thicket-clothed banks of a little river that we 
forded. 

The Karaoh encampments, or villages, are situated in the 
vicinity of the head waters of a little river called the Manoel 
Alves Perqueno, a tributary of the Tocantines. They existed 
originally at a spot much nearer the littoral ; but the entire 
tribe was transplanted long ago to its present situation, several 
hundred miles deeper into the wilderness, by the Capuchin 
friar, Rafael de Taggia, under whose directorate they were 
for fifty years by arrangement of the Brazilian government. 
This man has won renown; but what he accomplished for 
the uplifting of these primitive people is not manifest. They 
still live according to their ancient tribal customs and super- 
stitions and are now bitterly opposed to priests and friars. 
We were informed by those who knew the friar in question 
that he had been drunken and libidinous, and was insane 
during the last years of his life. An old Indian woman, who 
was a mass of horrid itching sores from head to foot, and the 
most repulsive object I ever saw, was pointed out to me as 
having been one of his mistresses. 

Though a few of the savages were in some fear of us at 
first, we were well received at the Gamaleira village, and 

215 



Brazil 

lodged in the hut of one of the chief men. We counted nine- 
teen huts in this village, arranged in a great circle facing to- 
ward the center which is a large, open space reserved as a play 
ground, where all the village sports occur. The huts, sub- 
stantially built of palm-branches, are much like those of the 
Cherente. Every individual of the tribe lives in absolute 
nudity, not wearing an atom of covering of any kind. Many 
of them understand a little of the civilized language, but owing 
to the brevity of our visit, we did not learn much about their 
native speech. 

As they do not live near any large stream, they are, like 
the Cherente, more expert hunters than fishermen, and de- 
pend almost entirely upon the chase for their meat. With 
one or two exceptions, they have no firearms, and confine 
themselves to their ancient weapon, the bow and arrow. 
Every morning, the men, singly and in twos and threes, scatter 
off to explore forest and jungle in search of game, seizing 
eagerly upon anything living, be it beast, bird or reptile — 
excepting possibly deer. At the same time, many of the 
women in small parties — for they never go alone — disperse 
over the wilds with huge baskets upon their backs to forage 
for fruits and vegetable foods, while others remain at home 
to prepare the day's ration of manioc. 

They merely grate the manioc roots and extract the liquid, 
but do not kiln-dry the grated mass as the civilized Brazilians 
do. They make use of a peculiar device to squeeze out the 
juice. It is a basket-work tube eight feet long, six inches 
thick, and very strong; and so made that it will stretch 
greatly, at the same time diminishing in diameter as it 
lengthens, just as rubber becomes thread-like when drawn 
out. Into this tube is packed a mass of the grated manioc, 
which expands it considerably. Then, one of the looping ex- 
tremities is secured to a firm limb of a tree, or to a beam 
of the dwelling, and hanging, heavy weights are attached to 
the big loop at the other end, causing it to contract greatly 
and force the liquid out of the manioc. 

The manioc is still in the press in the early afternoon when 

216 



Brazil 

the Nimrods begin to return with the fruit of the chase. As 
the meat is brought in, the moist manioc is removed from the 
tube and a thick layer of it spread upon banana or other 
broad leaves, and upon this again, a layer of quarter or half- 
pound chunks of meat, and finally, another heavy layer of 
manioc. The whole mass is now wrapped in green banana 
leaves and bound with long, green palm-leaves, then buried 
in the ashes under the fire and baked. This jungle cake often 
comes from the fire more or less raw, but the savages seem 
to consider it none the less palatable on this account. I saw 
a woman preparing a loaf with the meat of a small tortoise. 
Evidently her man had not had much " luck " that day. As 
it was the time of year when the flesh of this creature is lean 
and tough, it must have been nearly as difficult to eat as 
lumps of rubber. Both children and adults may be seen 
nibbling these savage sandwiches at every hour during their 
waking life. 

The Karaoh have the same implements of husbandry as 
the civilized Brazilians — the axe and the grubbing hoe. Each 
village has a plantation, chiefly of corn and manioc, upon 
which they are forced to depend largely for their food supply. 
Every family has chickens, dogs, and a few captive wild birds 
of brilliant plumage, belonging to the parrot family. We saw 
pigs at one hut only. 

We were told that some years prior to our visit, all the 
Karaoh lived in one village and had a real chief who owned 
one hundred cattle ; but this man was murdered and the cattle 
stolen or eaten. We got a few eggs from the natives in ex- 
change for articles we had. When Dr. Graham, Mr. Witte's 
colleague, visited them some time afterward, wishing to 
show their esteem for him, they presented him with eggs 
containing chickens. 

The Karaoh, like other Brazilian tribes, make clay pots, 
various kinds of baskets, and palm-leaf mats upon which to 
sit or lie. Their beds are raised platforms of poles, like those 
of the Cherente, and their only bedding is the palm-leaf mats. 



217 



Brazil 

They are not such stoutly built men as the Cherente, who are 
large, thick-set men, nor so slender and graceful as the Karaya, 
yet they are an athletic appearing people. 

We found the Gamaleira village suffering from an epidemic 
of whooping-cough, which had been contracted from the 
" civilized " people. There was scarcely a child or youth in 
the village that was not coughing violently. There appeared 
to be many children in the encampment, and the families 
were larger than any I have seen among the aborigines. 

Early the next morning after our arrival at this village, 
a number of the men went to the woods to fetch material 
with which to repair a hut, or build a new one. We saw 
them running, jumping and yelling as they returned dragging 
the poles and palm-branches, and behaving much like very 
lively boys playing horse. We could not but think how like 
children they are. They seek to do all their work as play. 

The next day, we rode ten miles further to visit the other 
large village of the Karaoh, called the Serrenha. Before en- 
tering the encampment, we encountered a horde of dogs that 
announced our approach with a fearful uproar. They were 
like a pack of ferocious wolves ready to devour us. Doubtless 
their appetites were as keen as their bark was wild and 
terrifying. Extreme hunger is the usual condition of all dogs 
in Brazil. Moreover, being mounted, we were an extraordi- 
nary turnout to these Indian dogs. 

On arrival, we went directly to the large, shed-like hut of the 
chief of the village, where we were kindly received and invited 
to make ourselves at home. This man's father was a negro, his 
mother a full-blooded Karaoh. Here, a large number of the 
dusky children of Nature gathered around us at once so that 
there were seldom less than thirty or forty eyeing us con- 
tantly, except at night. 

There are eighteen huts in this village, arranged, as at 
the Gamaleira, in an orderly manner in a great circle, facing 
inward. A circular race track nearly half a mile around, 
passed just in front of the huts, inside of which was an open 
playground. 

218 



Brazil 

The day we arrived was a gala day at this primitive city, 
for an athletic sport, called " the log race," was being indulged 
in. First, a group of youths, gaily bedecked with bright 
feathers and shell ornaments, ran over the track twice, bear- 
ing upon their shoulders a heavy, water-soaked section of the 
trunk of a big palm-tree, which weighed two hundred fifty 
pounds or. more. It was carried by one individual, only, at 
a time, and passed with splendid dexterity from the shoulders 
of one to another as they ran, without pausing. This log 
race is a test of strength and endurance, and no one is per- 
mitted to marry, we were told, until he can run well with this 
log. Most of the young athletes appeared able to sustain this 
great block of wood for a short run, though a few trembled 
from head to foot and began to sink under it after taking a 
few steps. Because of exposure to the weather and to the as- 
perities of the jungle, their entire bodies, apparently, became as 
hardened as the palm of the hand, else they could not endure 
this rough, ponderous weight on the unprotected shoulders. 

After the young men had concluded their performances and 
withdrawn from the track, a group of maidens appeared and 
ran over the course twice in a similar manner, bearing upon 
their unprotected shoulders the same log with which the men 
had exercised. They appeared scarcely less stalwart than their 
brothers. They wore no ornaments. Like the boys, they too 
must have sufficient strength to run well with this log be- 
fore they are allowed to marry. These companies of primi- 
tive athletes, adorned with their wild regalia, and rolling this 
huge log from the shoulders of one to another with apparent 
ease, their bronze bodies wet with perspiration and glistening 
in the sunlight, presented a brilliant spectacle of savage life. 
This log race seems to be a favorite sport with the Karaoh, 
just as the wrestling games are with the Karaya. 

The funeral of a child occurred shortly after the log 
race; and according to the universal practice of these tribes, 
there was a loud lamentation, wailing and crying. The little 
corpse was buried on the surface of the ground just outside 
the parental hut, the mother heaping the earth over the body 

219 



Brazil 

with her hands, assisted by a few other women. This was 
doubtless a preliminary burial, only. 

The Karaoh bore the ears of the males in infancy, and 
gradually enlarge the opening as the child grows to manhood 
by inserting larger and larger wooden plugs, or coils of bark 
like a watch spring, until the lobe of the ear forms a great 
loop that reaches nearly to the shoulder, and large enough, 
to encircle thick wooden or stone discs three and a half inches 
in diameter. It is surprising that so slender a belt of flesh 
can sustain such a great weight. We did, however, see a 
few of these fleshly loops that had been torn apart, either 
because of the weight of the disc, or because the loop caught 
upon some object as its owner was passing through the forest, 
for the savages seldom wear anything in the loop while 
hunting. 

We held two or three conferences with the natives of the 
Serrenha village as we did with those of the Gamaleira vil- 
lage, and talked with them in regard to sending them a teacher. 
They hesitated for a time to give their consent, partly, per- 
haps, because we were strangers and they did not comprehend 
our motives ; but principally, we were assured, because they 
had suffered much at the hands of friars and priests in former 
days. They were very solicitous to make sure that no 
priest would be sent to live among them. The old half-breed 
chief was decidedly opposed to having a teacher sent to his 
people, not only for reasons just named, but more especially 
for selfish and mercenary reasons. It appeared to us that 
as he was much better acquainted with the civilized people 
and more familiar with their language than the rest of his 
fellow tribesmen, he preferred that they remain in ignorance 
so that he might benefit himself at their expense. To our 
inquiries, he replied, saying, " We wish to remain as God left 
us — naked and pagan. I am a Christian," (meaning that he 
had been baptized by a priest) " and wear clothes ; but as 
for the rest of us, we wish to remain as we are." It appeared 
that all the other chief men would be glad to have a teacher 
if they could have one who would labor disinterestedly for 

220 



Brazil 

the betterment of their people. They asked for time to con- 
sider the matter and to consult a prominent Brazilian in 
whom they had confidence. They finally gave their consent 
two weeks later ; but I regret to say that a teacher has not yet 
been sent to them, to my knowledge. 

In going from the Gamaleira to the Serrenha village and 
returning, we followed a trail used only by the natives on 
foot, and impassable to cavalcades where it led through the 
forest. Consequently, we had to cut our way through, and 
had virtually to swim one narrow stream. The water was 
just deep enough for a man to stand on the bottom and keep 
his lips above water ; hence our muleteer was enabled to carry 
our saddles and boxes across by holding them above his head, 
while their weight, on the other hand, kept him from being 
swept off his feet. The others of us swam over, or disrobed 
and went across on a horse, bare-back. Returning, night 
closed in upon us while we were struggling across this place 
in the depths of the woods ; and as the darkness increased, we 
experienced much difficulty getting our baggage together and 
harnessing up. 

Our return journey to the Rio do Somno was without 
special incident. Being unable to get across the river the 
evening we arrived there, we had to pass the night in the 
woods. But we found a spot where the out-spreading boughs 
formed a dense mass above, thus furnishing us a verdant roof. 
Here we swung our hammocks and passed a pleasant night. 



221 



Part II. 

FROM 

THE RIO DO SOMNO 

TO 

THE SEA. 



Chapter XIX. 

CANOEING ON THE TOCANTINES.— REVOLUTIONS. 

As no finances had reached me since leaving the Capital 
of Goyaz, and it now seemed improbable that any would, 
I felt it necessary to get to the coast as soon as possible, 
though to do so, I was forced to dispose of all personal effects 
that were salable. As Mr. Witte also was returning to the 
coast, we arranged to travel together to the city of Maranhao, 
which is situated a little south of the mouth of the Amazon 
river, and fifteen hundred miles from the Rio do Somno, by 
the route we took. As our continuing in company greatly 
reduced the cost of travel to each of us, we got through at 
a surprisingly small outlay. 

First, we descended the Rio Tocantines two hundred forty 
miles in a canoe to the town of Carolina. We got transporta- 
tion for this part of our journey with a family that was going 
down to Carolina to seek from Dr. Graham much needed 
medical treatment for three of its members. 

To provide ourselves with food while on the Toncantines, we 
had two Guinea fowls and seven pounds of beef roasted, then 
fried in pork fat — this double process to eliminate all moisture 



Brazil 

and preserve it — and mixed with manioc meal. In addition 
to this we picked up fowls, eggs and milk at ranches along 
the river. 

We found a ranch house, a hut, or a shelter of some kind in 
which to pass nearly every night. We spent one night, how- 
ever, in one of Nature's pavilions, through the verdant domes 
of which broke here and there the silvery light of the stars. 
Where can one find a more charming place in which to pass 
a warm rainless night than in a comfortable hammock in 
one of these beautiful arboreal palaces, lulled to sleep by the 
merry music of a brook, in which one may take a refreshing 
plunge evening and morning, and drinking in the delicious, 
rejuvenating air; while the celestial hosts stand guard over 
one during the unconscious hours ! 

Our little canoe was heavily laden with passengers and 
Da gg a g" e - Mr. Witte and I had to perch on top of the luggage, 
and my two brilliant plumaged macaws clung to the low, 
ox-hide roof that covered the stern of the canoe. I imagine 
we must have resembled a lithograph picture I have seen of 
" Robinson Crusoe going ashore from the wreck." Whether 
or not we looked like a Robinson Crusoe party, we were all 
more or less wrecked, for we belonged to the lame, the halt 
and the blind class. One had heart disease and was blind; 
another had a skin disease ; our helmsman had a useless arm ; 
a fourth person had cataracts ; and the fifth but one good ear. 
One of our paddlers suffered from chronic weariness, and 
appeared to row only when asleep ; then his companion would 
speak to him, and awakening, he would cease rowing. Even 
one of my macaws was losing the sight of an eye. 

I left my Scripture pamphlet at every place we visited 
along the river, and a Testament wherever I could, besides 
talking with the people regarding the Gospel. Sometimes, 
persons came to me asking for a " Book of the New Law," 
meaning the Bible. 

We delayed a few days at the Toua brook on the Tocan- 
tines, some two hundred miles north of the Rio do Somno, 
awaiting the arrival from Carolina of Dr. and Mrs. Graham 

223 



Brazil 

and party to take a brief rest at the cattle-ranch located here. 
For a shelter, we spread the fly of Mr. Witte's tent under 
the large trees at the mouth of the brook. Unlike a tent, it 
was entirely open at both ends, so we enjoyed an abundance 
of fresh air. We were kindly supplied with all the fresh 
beef and milk we could use while here. 

At length, one morning, just as we were becoming tired 
of awaiting the appearance of Dr. and Mrs. Graham, a large 
trading boat hove in sight down the river, paddled rapidly 
by a file of men on either side, which reminded one strangly 
of an ancient galley. As it drew near, we saw that it brought 
the party we were expecting — Dr. and Mrs. Graham, and the 
proprietor of the cattle-ranch where we were encamped, who 
was a leading merchant of Carolina, and his numerous family 
and friends. It was indeed a most unusual and interesting 
spectacle that was presented to us as this strange craft, with 
its living cargo which literally swarmed over it like flies on 
a molasses barrel, drew into the creek at our feet. It was 
roofed over with thatch fore and aft, and this roof and all 
the space between, and everywhere else, was alive with men, 
women and children of all ages, sizes, kinds and conditions, 
and also with dogs and birds that " could not be counted." 
It appeared like the " Swiss Family Robinson " returning 
from their tropical island after they had multiplied greatly, 
and had collected a menagerie. 

They had seldom or never seen a physician at Carolina, 
a town of three thousand inhabitants, until Dr. Graham ap- 
peared; and as nearly every person was in some need of 
medical attention, and the doctor treated all without charge, 
he was overwhelmed with patients, many persons traveling 
hundreds of miles by canoe or horse to consult him. 

Arrived at Carolina, we were kindly entertained at the 
residence of the merchant previously mentioned. I exper- 
ienced peculiar sensations of pleasure as I found myself get- 
ting into touch with civilization again after a year's absence 
from it. I felt as if I were awakening from a long, strange 
dream. Though not " clothed in purple and fine linen " — 

224 



Brazil 

far from it — yet I " fared sumptuously every day ; " — at least, 
I thought so, compared to my fare during the preceding year. 
It was with happy feelings and with thankfulness to God 
that I sat down each day to eat civilized meals in a civilized 
manner. Until this time, the question ever before me was, 
where can I find a morsel of food, of whatever quality, for 
the next meal. Among other good things, we regaled our- 
selves each day here with the fruit of the mangaba tree — the 
natural baked apple. 

Carolina was founded about the year 1840. Though the 
inhabitants are very largely poor and unlettered, a school 
worthy of the name having never existed in the town, yet they 
are somewhat more enlightened and manly spirited than the 
unfortunate people who " sit at the feet " of the old priest 
farther up the river, and not a few are nauseated with 
priestly domination. A number of the leading citizens pos- 
sess some education which they obtained elsewhere, and en- 
joy a measure of intellectual freedom. Many of these persons 
call themselves positivists — a kind of materialism — and are 
nonbelievers in the teachings of the priests. We had the 
pleasure of meeting a large company of the most prominent 
men who were very desirous of having a good, modern school 
established in the town for their children. But what a sad 
mental lethargy, lack of. patriotism and blindness to their 
own interests, must have prevailed among these people that 
their town should have existed for nearly three-quarters of a 
century without any real school? — The more remarkable 
when it is known that several men are wealthy in cattle, be- 
sides lands, one man owning some fifteen thousand head. 

When the boys and girls learned that I had little books 
containing one or another of the four Gospels, such a demand 
was made for them that my supply was soon exhausted. 
There was also a heavy demand for my Scripture pamphlet, 
of which I had a good stock. Some doubt was entertained at 
first, by the people, concerning this publication, but being 
reassured, they sought it eagerly and read it with much in- 
terest. It was also read aloud to unlettered persons, and 

15 225 



Brazil 

loaned to neighbors. One day, a small boy came to me plead- 
ing earnestly for a Gospel of John, urging as a special reason 
why he should have the little book that his name was John. 
One afternoon, I gave a blackboard talk to the boys in the 
large room we were occupying, using colored chalk. This 
appeared to please and interest them much. 

I found myself the " observed of all observers " when I 
appeared in the streets. I do not know whether I was famous 
or notorious. In addition to being a foreigner, the report of 
my collision with the priest and with the mob at the Rio do 
Somno had preceded me here, and altogether, I was regarded 
with unusual interest. But I was treated only with kindness 
and respect by these people, and spent much time going about 
among them. Regarding hospitality as a cardinal virtue, the 
Brazilians always treat callers to a small cup of very strong 
but excellent coffee. I was therefore offered coffee at nearly 
every house I visited, so was in danger of being killed with 
kindness. It is considered discourteous to refuse the prof- 
fered coffee, except for evident reasons. 

Supposing that I intended to visit the town of Boa Vista, 
one or two hundred miles further down the Tocantines, I 
was warned and urged by some prominent men not to go 
there for the reason that both the people and their priest 
were brutal and vicious, and schooled in murder. This town 
had been convulsed by civil, or internecine war for two years, 
and wholesale shootings and foul murders were of almost 
daily occurrence. 

As near as we could learn, the origin and history of this 
bloody and devastating fued was about as follows : A worth- 
less, villainous young man courted and married a widow fifty 
years old, owning several small cattle-ranches, with the sole 
object of getting possession of her property. As was to be 
expected, they did not live happily together, separating a year 
after marriage. Still hoping to attain his object, this un- 
scrupulous man hired an assassin — they are always obtainable 
— to shoot his unfortunate wife as she came down to the 
river one morning. Known to have instigated the crime, the 

226 



Brazil 

husband was arrested and cast into prison. In due time, he 
was brought to trial; but as he owed the president of the 
municipality twenty head of cattle, this man wished to have 
him acquitted so that he might not suffer the loss of these 
cattle, and the court was willing to accommodate him. But 
the " boss " of the opposing political party, on the other hand, 
wished to send the wretch to prison for the rest of his days, 
as he had bought a ranch from him, for which he had paid 
nothing as yet, and sought to escape payment altogether. 
Doubtless, this was not the ostensible reason. Therefore, when 
the murderer was about to be set at liberty, this boss, having 
called to his aid his henchmen, seized control of municipal 
affairs. Not to be outdone, the temporarily vanquished munic- 
ipal chief, summoned his hangers on, and in turn, drove out 
the usurpers. Bent upon ultimate victory, the " revolution- 
ists " mustered a still greater force, while the municipal 
chief did likewise, reminding one of Marius and Sylla in 
Roman history. As the deadly feud augmented, more and 
more persons became involved, either willingly or otherwise, 
until the entire population had taken side. Thus they fought 
with varying fortunes for years, with all the bitterness of 
internecine wars, adding wholesale robbery and pillage to 
cold-blooded butchery, making continual raids upon each 
other's cattle. Once the village was " garrisoned " by a force 
of six hundred men, and besieged by nine hundred; and for 
three days and nights, there was continual dueling. Military 
expeditions, sent by the state authorities to quell the insur- 
rection, were bought off by one or the other of the belligerents. 

Both forces were armed with nondescript shotguns, horse- 
pistols and big knives, with perhaps a few old muskets and 
repeating rifles, but no cannon. Rapine and murder was the 
order of the day, and of the night as well, without regard to 
the laws of war. Finally, after the contending factions had 
consumed all their own and the enemy's cattle, and all avail- 
able resources had become entirely exhausted, hostilities 
ceased. 

This is an example, on a small scale, of many of the so- 

227 



Brazil 

called revolutions that occur so frequently in Central and 
South America. They do not begin at the bottom and work 
up, but from the top and work down. They are not an up- 
rising of the common people against tyranny and oppression, 
but are, instead, an appeal to the sword of a few disappointed 
or disgruntled political bosses, or " rain commanders," because 
they have been out-generaled in the manoeuvres to capture 
the spoils of government. The common people are gradually 
forced into the ranks of one or the other of the belligerents, 
though they may not even know what the war is about, and 
will gain nothing by the victory of either, but instead, will 
suffer the loss of life and property. 



228 




The Author writing up His Diaries. 



Chapter XX. 

THE JUNGLES OF MARANHAO.— GIANTS' TABLES. 

We remained but one week at Carolina, then went on 
southeastward, one hundred and sixty miles to the Rio das 
Balsas — River of the Rafts. For our transportation, we con- 
tracted with a citizen of Carolina to furnish us two riding and 
three pack mules, and two muleteers, paying the equivalent 
of sixteen dollars for their hire. We bought also fifty pounds 
of beef for our two men, which they themselves tried to pre- 
pare by drying it in the sun. But the weather was so cloudy 
and rainy that, instead of drying, it began to revive. Having 
to begin our march with it in this condition, each time we 
halted our men hung it around on the bushes to dry, if the 
sun shone. At length, the disgusting turkey buzzards got 
sight of the decaying beef, and hovered on our flanks, like 
evil spirits; and for a time it was doubtful which would ulti- 
mately get the meat— the men, the maggots, or the buzzards. 
Before roasting a piece on a spit, we knocked it against a tree 
to remove as much as possible of the multitudinous life. We 
were compelled to employ two muleteers, as we had to ford 
and swim many streams which were now raging torrents and 
very difficult and dangerous to cross. 

An interesting scenic feature of the environs of Carolina, 
and of the region through which we passed to the Rio das 
Balsas, is a number of table-mountains that rise up here and 
there in a comparatively level country, like colossal blocks 
with vertical sides. One near Carolina is called The Moun- 
tain of the Moon, because of its form. It can be ascended 
on one side only, and its summit is so extensive and level, 
and it affords such good pasture and has such an abundance 

229 



Brazil 

of excellent water, and besides is so salubrious, that a cattle 
ranch is located upon it. 

We passed the first night of our journey in one of our 
usual hotels — a rum distillery ; but a pretty little river flowed 
close by in which we took a refreshing dip after the heat of 
a long day's march. Early the second morning, we forded 
the river Tapecuru and visited a beautiful cataract of the same 
name just below the ford. A small island divides the river 
at the falls, the roar of which can be heard two miles. As 
the water has a drop of forty feet, it could develop perhaps 
two thousand horse-power. This river empties into the 
Tocanties, and small crafts can ascend it to the falls. 

We made but a very short march the second day because 
of a heavy rain-storm and a swollen, impassible stream, and 
stayed the rest of the day and the night at a pleasant ranch 
where we were well entertained. 

What a peculiar and difficult trail we followed on this 
journey! In crossing many streams, we entered the water 
through a deep cut in the steep bank so narrow that we had 
to cross our legs over our mules' necks to save them from being 
crushed; and at times the animal's back was so nearly verti- 
cal that one had to hang on, like a cat to a telegraph pole, 
to keep from sliding over its head while descending the bank, 
or backward over its tail while ascending. Finally, we 
reached the little river Loge, which we were forced to swim, 
there being no other means of making the passage. The 
current was strong and the water cold and heavily charged 
with yellow earth. Before reaching the river, I overheard our 
men speaking of crossing it where " the hide " was, and won- 
dered what connection there could be between " the hide " and 
our passage of the river. But I learned on arrival at the river 
that " the hide " — a very large and stiff sun-dried oxhide which 
I saw lying on the ground near by — was to be the ferry-boat 
to transfer our baggage across the narrow and turbulent 
stream. A portion of the baggage was placed upon it as it 
lay, hair side up, then the edges all around were bent up- 
ward and held in position by cords passing over the little 

\ 

230 



Brazil 

cargo. The rude vessel thus formed was sufficient to float 
one hundred pounds of baggage; and the whole was drawn 
into the river and pushed across by our men, who were power- 
ful swimmers. 

We halted for breakfast the third day at a ranch with a 
big name — the Fazenda of the Middle Table Mountain — 
where we were treated with splendid hospitality by the pro- 
prietor. He gave us with liberality the physical bread, and 
we in turn gave him the Spiritual bread — the Book — which 
appeared to please him much. His kindness was such that 
he sent a man eight miles with us to point out the trail. 

We camped this night in the wilds by the Rio do Foice — 
Brush-hook river — and near the Mouro do Pico — Pinacle 
Mountain. This is an interesting table-mountain: It rises 
up a thousand feet above the level basin, of which it appears 
to be the center, and is so perpendicular on all sides that no 
human foot has ever pressed its summit. Perhaps it was 
an island in a primeval lake, raised by some mighty upheaval, 
or was left after a great terrestrial subsidence. The people 
of the vicinity think that it is rich in gold. 

We halted the fourth day at the Fazenda do Sucury — Ana- 
conda Ranch. We attracted nearly as much attention every- 
where as a traveling circus, being stared at and our baggage 
examined with great curiosity, while many strange and amus- 
ing questions were asked us. A cowboy accompanied us a 
few days, and becoming informed regarding us, was prepared 
to impart to the people wherever we halted such facts as 
their curiosity demanded. They called Mr. Witte " the old 
man " — not that he was old, but merely the elder of the two 
— and myself " the young man." 

" They come from Carolina, and are going to Villa Nova 
and Maranhao," the cowboy would say. " The old man is a 
widower and has children ; but the young man is a bachelor." 
" How old are you?" and "Are you married?" are often the 
first questions asked a stranger. 

" The old man is a German, and the young man an Ameri- 
can." 



231 



Brazil. 

"What do they eat?" 

" O, they eat some manioc meal and rapadura, and drink 
lots of coffee. They like coffee, but take it weaker than 
we do. They also eat some meat which they brought in little 
cans irom the United States. The old man doesn't like dried 
meat, but the young man eats a little. Holy Mary, how they 
like eggs ! They eat them raw ! " 

"Raw?" 

" Yes, raw ! They also eat hen when they can get one. 
They do everything by rule. They do not drink strong coffee 
because they say it is bad for the stomach." 

" Do they drink rum ? " 
" No, they don't drink ; neither do they even smoke. They 
are not like us — they have no vices. This is why they have 
such good health and have fair and clean skins and beauti- 
ful faces. We, however, are loaded down with vices," — bad 
habits — " and are sick, ugly and beastly." 

" Couldn't they arrange a marriage somehow ? " sugges- 
tively asked the impure minded interrogator. 

" Silence your mouth, man ; they are different from us, 
and do not even mention such things." 

"What kind of a beast is that?" — pointing to my cloth 
blackboard, rolled up. 

" It's a kind of bed," replied our muleteer. 

"A bed? How can he stretch himself upon that?" 

"What has he in that box?" — pointing to Mr. Witte's 
trunk. 

" O, he has a thousand things." 

" Long live Mary ! " exclaims the questioner, lifting the 
trunk, " but it's heavy ! I believe he has gold in it." 

" No," I broke in, " he has shot in it." 

" I think he has gold in it ; and if I were quite sure, I 
would go up the trail and hide behind a bush; then when he 
came along I would do him a charity " — shoot him — " and take 
the box." 

" But do you know," broke in our man, " he can shoot 

232 



* 
- 




■i ■ 

'■■-'." . _ ■ ■ 





A Charming Cascade. 



Brazil. 

you as far as he can see you with that three-barreled gun he 
carries." 

" Our Lady, full of grace, have mercy on me ! " finally ex- 
claimed the questioner. 

In due time, we reached the filthy and decadent little 
village of Riachao — Big Creek. When a mile or two distant 
from the main village, we came unexpectedly upon a strange 
looking settlement, the numerous rude huts of which were 
scattered about thickly in a dense jungle, with here and there 
a small patch of cultivated ground. A storm coming up, 
we took shelter in an abandoned hovel for the night. 

We remained but a few hours in the village of Riachao, 
much to my regret. As we bore letters of introduction to 
one of the leading citizens, we were kindly entertained by 
him. Many men, thinking we were prospectors, called to 
talk with us regarding the probability of finding gold and 
other minerals in this region. 

Leaving Riachao, we made but a short march, and halted 
early in the afternoon at a ranch house built of clay walls and 
thatched roof, which was nearly as large as a farm barn in 
North America. We and our men suspended our hammocks 
in the spacious front room between two parallel poles that 
extended horizontally from end to end of the room on each side 
and eleven feet above the ground. As they were secured only 
at each end, they sprang considerably when we got into our 
hammocks, with the result that whenever one of us changed 
his position in the hammock, it caused all the other ham- 
mocks to dance. In the morning, Mr. Witte innocently re- 
marked, " I could have slept well last night had it not been 
that one or another of you racked those poles every little while 
and woke me up." " Well," I replied, " perhaps you do not 
know that every time you rolled over you started an earth- 
quake among the rest of us." 

We saw a small orange grove here, the fruit of which had 
not been gathered, though it had been ripe eight months. 
It still clung as firmly as ever to the trees, which were loaded, 
and was but little inferior to what it was when it first ripened. 



233 



Brazil 

We found in the ranch house, a daily newspaper from Rio 
de Janeiro which attracted our attention since it is very 
seldom that a scrap of literature exists in rural dwellings. 

We shot a kind of pluver this afternoon as we rode along. 
It had a long spur at the elbow of each wing, and flew at us 
like an arrow, several times, as if it meant to strike us. We 
asked one of our men if it was good to eat. " What ! Eat that 
bird?" he exclaimed with alarm; " Nobody eats him. If any 
person should eat him, he would never sleep again, for he 
never sleeps ! " Nevertheless, we prepared and ate our game ; 
and have since slept very well. 

The only special incident of the next day's travel was an 
encounter with a solitary man on foot whom we first saw some 
distance ahead of us down the trail. He was wearing noth- 
ing but a hat, and carried on his head a cotton bag partly 
filled. Overtaking him, we learned that he was carrying the 
Government mail, which was in the bag along with his cotton 
shirt and trousers and a handful of food ; and that he traveled 
back and forth over a distance of nearly three hundred miles. 
As his route was largely through desolate wildernesses and 
he had to ford and swim many streams, he had, therefore, 
reverted to the state of primeval man. 

We arrived, finally, at Santo Antonio de Balsas, or Villa 
Nova, on the Rio das Balsas. Here, we camped in a vacant 
house and did our own cooking. But Mr. Witte, taking to 
punning, remarked that, though his name was Witte, he 
was not a witty man; and though my name was Cook, I was 
not a cook. 

We now discontinued mule-back travel and contracted with 
a merchant for twenty dollars to descend the Rio das Balsas 
and the Rio Parnahyba with him on his balsa, or float, to the 
city of Therezina, the capital of the state of Piauhy (Pee-ow- 
ee), a distance of eight hundred miles by the river. Many 
of the merchants of this region convey their goods — hides 
and rubber — to market by descending these two rivers on big 
floats made of hundreds of light, pithy poles ; and having 
reached their destination, they abandon the float, for by that 

234 



Brazil. 

time it begins to get water-logged, and therefore useless. 
To return home with their merchandise, they have their mules 
and horses brought light to them overland. There is no other 
navigation of the Rio das Balsas and the upper reaches of 
the Rio Parnahyba than that of the descent of these balsas. 
The balsa involves no outlay other than the gathering of the 
poles and the binding of them together to make a float. 

Having to delay a week at Santo Antonio, I employed the 
time evangelizing in the usual way, quickly disposing of every 
copy of the Scriptures I had. 



235 



Chapter XXL 

FLOATING DOWN THE RIVERS BALSAS AND PAR- 

NAHYBA ON A RAFT.— A LAND OF FIRE.— 

FAMINE.— TROPICAL STORMS. 

At last, all was ready, and we went aboard the strange and 
novel craft on which we were to live two weeks while being 
borne by the current eight hundred miles down the two 
rivers. Twelve hundred small poles, limbs of the burity- 
palm, were used in the construction of this float; and when 
completed, it was twenty-five feet in length, twelve feet in 
width, and two feet thick. It was roofed by setting up a 
row of saplings along each side, then bending the tops of the 
two rows over the deck and binding them together, and 
finally, tying on to this skeleton a few sun-dried hides from 
our cargo. A powerful rowing post was fixed at the center 
of the front and rear end, to each of which was hung, by 
means of rawhide cordage that allowed it to swing freely, 
a heavy pole five inches thick, fifteen feet long, and ter- 
minating at the outer end in a big blade. These were the 
oars by means of which the unwieldy craft could be slowly 
worked over, sidewise, to the right or left. The pilot, who 
must possess an intimate knowledge of the river throughout 
its whole length, and who must know in every instance where 
the current will carry him, uses these ponderous oars, with 
the help of an assistant, to manceuver the float aside from the 
danger point long before it is reached, otherwise, it would 
be too late to avert disaster. 

Our ship's company consisted of the merchant and his boy 
cook, the pilot and his assistant, Mr. Witte and myself. The 
freight, besides our baggage, was two hundred dry hides 

236 



Brazil 

and six hundred pounds of mangaba — rubber — belonging to 
the merchant. Some earth was placed on a rear corner of 
the balsa on which to kindle a fire and prepare our food. 

I must confess that I looked forward with keen anticipa- 
tion of pleasure to the strange and novel voyage we were 
to make with such a unique conveyance. The farewells all 
said to the numerous company that assisted at the embarka- 
tion, we pushed our ugly appearing but comfortable transport 
out into the middle of the stream where it was at once re- 
ceived in the embrace of the strong current and borne quickly 
and silently away on a voyage from which these crafts never 
return. The pretty little river was but one hundred fifty 
feet wide where we embarked. Both margins were robed in 
a dense arboreal growth that crouched down into the water 
and reached far out over it as if endeavoring to clasp hands 
and completely embower our liquid pathway; so, during the 
first day, we were raked continually from stem to stern by 
the branches of the trees. But the stream broadened grad- 
ually as we advanced, and soon, we had plenty of room in 
which to navigate. 

How delightfully novel and romantic was our experience 
as we moved silently onward day after day on the crest of 
the flood between the solid lines of perennial verdure that 
stood as a transfixed guard of honor by our watery highway, 
breathing the life-giving air freighted with the fragrance of 
spring and being constantly entertained by the inexhaustible 
kaleidoscope of natural scenery that resolved ceaselessly into 
new forms ! 

Besides enjoying the stranger and ever-changing scenes 
along this charming waterway, we passed the days largely 
reading, writing or conversing while lounging at ease in our 
hammocks, preparing and eating our food, exercising now and 
then at the big oars, bathing, or taking a shot occasionally 
at some game, large or small; while our good friend, the 
merchant, occupied nearly the whole of each day reading my 
Bible. As we swept noiselessly along, we were continually 
surprising and frightening beasts, birds and reptiles that had 

237 



Brazil 

been wholly unaware of our approach, and we had often a 
jungle dinner at their expense. 

During the first days of our voyage, we did not travel 
at night owing to the narrowness of the river, which made 
navigation very dangerous. Afterward, when we began to 
have moonlight and the river was broad and less obstructed, 
we continued to float onward at night, and once, traveled 
all night. How peculiarly charming and delightful were our 
surroundings as we glided along, silently, in the profound 
stillness of the night, like some giant phantom, with the moon 
bathing the mirror-like waters nestling between banks of 
eternal verdure, in soft, silvery light, and glorifying the 
whole face of Nature ! 

We seemed to be traversing an endless wilderness ; and 
being far removed and entirely free from the excitements, 
anxieties and burdens of the busy, tumultuous world, we were 
at liberty to enjoy, without anything to interrupt or distract 
us, many quiet hours of sweet communion with God as we 
were borne along in the freshness of the night through a 
seemingly enchanted land. One could easily imagine that 
he had, in some mysterious manner, wandered away into a 
delightful fairy-world of rest, harmony and peace. 

But if we imagined this, we were from time to time sud- 
denly and rudely awakened from our delicious dreams to 
a vivid realization of the harsh, discordant, brutish world 
which our souls, longing for the realms of Light, had fancied 
far removed, by hearing the wild shouts of our pilot to his 
assistant at the rear oar while they were trying to bring the 
raft to land at some point : shouts of, " Row, man ! Row 
with force ! ! Throw the hind end in ! ! ! Grab the bushes ! ! ! 
Grab, I tell you ! ! Grab ! ! !— Did you get hold? ! " 

"No!" 

" The Devil ! Man, you are no good ! ! You are of no use 
whatever! ! You are crazy! ! Jump ashore with the line! ! 
Jump, quick, leaden feet ! ! Jump ! ! " 

During this fusillade of shouts and counter shouts, the 
balsa was crashing like some huge dragon through the masses 

238 



Brazil 

of bushes and limbs of trees that extended out over the water, 
threatening to tear off the roof, and was grinding and bump- 
ing over rocks and snags. It required the exercise of much 
skill and care to get it up to the bank without injuring it. 
As we could land only where there was a stretch of river 
front free of obstructions, the oarsmen had to exert all their 
strength and use much tact to work the cumbersome craft in as 
quickly as possible when the right spot was reached. 

The Rio das Balsas cuts through the Serra do Taboleirao 
— the range of the Big Table Mountain — following a very 
sinuous course. We passed without stopping, two wretched 
little hamlets, Louretta and S. Feliz de Balsas. While 
moving silently along one day, we saw three capibara — the 
largest rodent in the world — come down into the river to 
swim across. They did not see us until they had entered the 
water, but they dove before we could get a shot at them, 
and we saw them no more. They are very destructive of 
plantations. The natives seldom eat the flesh of this animal 
for they say it is sweetish and unpalatable. A mature capi- 
bara will weigh about two hundred pounds. When domes- 
ticated, they become as tame and harmless as a house cat. 
Mr. Witte shot several mergtdhdo — great divers — and we 
cooked and ate them. This aquatic bird subsists entirely upon 
fish, and its flesh tastes like fish meat — so much so, indeed, 
that if one were to close his eyes he could easily imagine he 
was eating fish. We soon got to loathe this meat, our pilot 
remarking that it almost nauseated him to even see the crea- 
ture flying. 

When we made fast to the bank one day to permit one 
of our men to run back and get a bird we had shot, we saw 
an ant-eater about as large as a raccoon, called a tomandud 
merim y lying on a platform of branches and foliage, about 
thirty feet above our heads. Mr. Witte fired at it and I 
climbed the tree to throw it down, supposing it to be dead. 
But I found it far from dead, though shot through the shoul- 
der, and it took two more shots to finish it. I have since 
learned that it was dangerous to go up a tree to this animal 

239 



Brazil. 

as it might have attacked me and fearfully lacerated my legs 
with the gaff-hook like claws with which each foot is armed. 
Mr. Witte cleaned and cooked the beast, but found the flesh 
far from succulent. One night, we scared up an anaconda 
that was lying in the water near the bank. We saw every 
day monkeys, alligators, big lizards, and the like ; and also 
many hawks devouring snakes and other creatures along the 
edge of the river, besides various other birds, including the 
beautiful garca, one of which we shot and ate. 

One afternoon, as we were nearing the end of our voyage 
and were moving silently along close to the masses of bushes 
that covered the left bank of the river, we appeared suddenly 
and unannounced, like an apparition, right in the midst of 
a large party of bathers and women engaged in washing 
clothes in the river at a spot where the bank was clear of 
jungle. Their surprise amounted almost to consternation, and 
they angrily demanded of our pilot : " Why did you not let 
us know you were coming? !" "How could I know you 
were here?" was the laconic reply. 

About sunset, one evening, we glided out of the Rio das 
Balsas into the Parnahyba. We had thought that the water of 
the former river was very dirty, but it was clean, compared 
with the latter. It was a great, red flood, and so charged with 
clayey earth that to drink it was akin to drinking thin mud; 
so, before drinking it, we let it stand a while in a vessel to 
settle. The coffee made with this water was red instead of 
coffee color. 

As we descended the Parnahyba, we entered gradually a 
region where no rain had fallen for a year or two. The 
heavens were as brass, the heat intense, and the whole face 
of nature almost like a desert. We called briefly at two ham- 
lets, Nova Villa, and Cachaseira — Rum Tank — where we found 
the people miserable and hungry. As food was very scarce, 
prices were enormous for this place. A bushel of manioc 
meal — the bread of the land — cost nearly as much as a labor- 
ing man could earn in an entire month. We left here a little 
of the spiritual Bread, which was all we had to give. 

240 



Brazil 

Each day as we floated onward, the starving natives hailed 
us from the shore importuning us to sell them manioc meal. 
We could hear them splitting goose-egg cocoanuts in the 
woods to get the woody kernel with which to make meal. 
Many of these people subsisted upon the wild creatures 
whether four-footed beast, flying fowl or creeping thing, and 
upon such wild vegetables as existed. The heat became so 
intense that to keep cool was impossible, so we sought only 
to exist. But as the nights on the river were comfortably 
fresh, we enjoyed sweet relief from the dreadful heat of the 
day. 

We consumed two days passing through a long stretch of 
the River Parnahyba, called " The Gullet." The channel here 
is very narrow and rock-ribbed and the current is swift. 
Because this is such a dangerous place, we did not dare to 
travel at night. Many brave balsas have failed to survive this 
passage. We shot without mishap the rapids of Boa Esper- 
anca, near the entrance to the Gullet, where the government 
had removed much rock to make the river navigable in its 
upper reaches. 

Thanksgiving Day occurred while we floated down the 
river Parnahyba. We neither saw nor did anything to remind 
us, even remotely, of the day as we had spent it in former 
times, except to give thanks to God for countless mercies 
vouchsafed us. We ate some Chicago canned beef, however, 
but the rest of our dinner was jungle food, eaten in the jungle, 
and according to jungle etiquette. 

We began to get our first glimpses of modern civilization 
when we reached the town of Colonia, in the state of Piauhy. 
Here, we saw the electric telegraph for the first time in more 
than a year. It was a pleasure to look at the poles and wires. 
The town itself had more of the appearance of a city than 
anything I had seen since leaving the Capital of Goyaz. We 
also saw many persons, chiefly women and children, dressed 
in full city attire. To look upon well-dressed people gave 
more pleasure than I had thought possible. 

We saw here a very large shed-like edifice that had been 

16 241 



Brazil 

used by the government in former times as a school for the 
education of the children of slaves owned by it. When Afri- 
can slavery existed in Brazil, with a view to its gradual aboli- 
tion, a law was passed that all children of slaves, born after 
a certain date, should be free. This school was for these 
children. But when slavery was abolished, the school was 
closed and the building turned into a butter canning factory. 

All vegetation appeared utterly dead here as if rain had 
never fallen. Even orange groves were dead, and the ground 
was as bald as the middle of a much traveled road. There was 
great suffering among the. poor, and a large group of hungry 
beggars met us at the landing-place. 

We delayed but an hour at Colonia, resuming our journey 
shortly before sunset. Having enjoyed another delightful 
evening on the river, after the scorching heat of the day, 
we tied up to the left bank of the river at " high night." It 
was well for us that we made fast where we did, for the sky 
soon blackened and a fearful tropical storm was let loose 
upon us : but we were, luckily, on the sheltered side of the 
river. The scene that enveloped us was weird and terrify- 
ing. The night was illuminated by the almost continuous 
flashing of the lightnings, for the whole heavens seemed to 
burst forth into blinding flames ; the earth trembled with the 
incessant peal and boom of the thunders ; the wind moaned 
and roared through the wilds, threatening to tear our craft 
from its moorings ; and the rain descended almost as if the 
river had been lifted into the air and hurled back upon the 
earth, enmasse. No rain had fallen for one or two years, and 
the land was a fiery furnace because of the fearful solar heat, 
for this is an equatorial region. But now, the awful drought 
and famine had terminated with this mighty atmospheric 
convulsion. 

The unspeakably welcome rain continued throughout the 
remainder of the night. Moving on again at dawn in the 
mists and under a leaden sky, we soon had more evidence of 
the great quantity of water that had fallen during the night. 
Passing the mouth of a little tributary of the Parnahyba, we 

242 



Brazil 

saw the water rolling out of it like waves of the sea, and 
sweeping with it enormous quantities of rubbish, such as 
brush-wood and barnyard accumulations, which had been 
garnered from the land by the avalanche of water. These 
masses of gleanings formed a seemingly endless procession 
down the Parnahyba, and we could do nothing but fall into 
line and become as one of the countless rubbish heaps. 

At sunset, we reached a town called Sao Gonsalu de 
Amarante, where our merchant disposed of his cargo of hides 
and mangaba to an exporter, by whom we were kindly and 
splendidly entertained until the following afternoon, when we 
resumed our voyage to Therezina. 

Disembarking at this quaint old town of three thousand 
souls, we soon met with renewed evidences that we were get- 
ting back to civilization. One of the first was the strains of 
martial music that greeted our ears. Another, was delicious 
bread and butter, with coffee, which was set before us im- 
mediately after rising in the morning — the first I had eaten in 
a year. It was a " red letter day " to me to again taste this 
priceless food of Christian civilization after living so long 
without it and faring so scantily much of the time. Again 
at eleven a. m., an excellent breakfast was served according 
to Brazilian custom, and dinner at five p. m., which seemed 
a banquet. Altogether, I felt as if I were just returning from 
a long residence in some strange world, or awaking from an 
extraordinary dream. 

This town swarmed with wretched beings driven in by the 
drought and famine. I never before saw human beings in 
such a deplorable condition, which was pitiable in the ex- 
treme. Many were mere ambulating skeletons with leathery 
skins drawn over them; while a number were blind, which 
made their plight even more sad. Sitting in the store of the 
exporter for an hour during the morning, I saw emaciated men, 
women and children dragging themselves in • and out con- 
tinually, seeking alms. As each individual presented himself 
at the counter, the clerk gave him a wax candle, worth three- 
fourths of a cent, without a word being spoken. No one was re- 

243 



Brazil 

fused, while all seemed to expect a candle, and that only. 
Candles were given instead of coin, which was very scarce 
everywhere. But the beggar could readily exchange the 
candle for a taste of food, or for a copper or nickle coin — the 
only metal currency in circulation. It is the custom in Brazil 
to give to all who ask alms, even if the gift be only a copper 
coin worth but a quarter of a cent. It is accepted promptly, 
without a request for more. The people are taught to give 
alms as they purchase " merit " by so doing. Hence, the 
mendicant, asking alms, confers a favor by giving one an 
opportunity to purchase " merit," for himself. 

In cities, beggars are seen in considerable numbers loung- 
ing about the entrances and haunting the vestibules of pop- 
ular temples, displaying revolting sores on their bodies. To 
enter such a place, one must run the gauntlet of these regi- 
ments of the lame, halt, blind and diseased. In small towns 
and villages, beggars are seen frequently on horse-back visit- 
ing stores and dwellings asking alms. They do not dismount 
anywhere for nearly all dwellings, as well as stores, front 
close upon the street, the doors and windows are wide open, 
and there are no verandas. Therefore, the giver has but 
to step to the door or window and hand the mendicant cavalier 
his contribution, which he does meekly, without a murmur. 
I was astonished once, sitting at the window of a small village 
hotel soon after my arrival in Brazil, when a horseman ap- 
peared before me and asked alms. 

I was told that the federal government had sent supplies 
of food for the famine stricken people, but that it was con- 
sumed by thieving, soulless officers, or held for sale at ex- 
orbitant prices; moreover, that in the famine region itself, 
there were warehouses rilled with manioc meal, which was 
being held with the hope of gaining enormous profits from its 
sale; and though it was rotting, the owners still held out 
for higher prices. One advantage to the famine sufferers in 
their own districts was that the wild creatures were being 
driven by the drought from their lurking places in the forest 
and were coming out to the rivers seeking water; thus they 

244 



Brazil. 

were more easily captured by the starving people. The heat 
during the drought was insufferable. In the coolest shade 
in the town, the thermometer stood frequently at one hun- 
dred five or ten degrees Fahrenheit, though this gives little 
idea of the consuming strength of the vertical sun. 

Our good balsa was like a wreck when we went to re- 
embark, as the hides forming the roof had been removed ; 
furthermore, this so weakened the frame-work that we could 
not again swing up our hammocks. But we spread the fly 
of our tent for a roof, and succeeded in making our ship 
comfortable once more. We floated on all day, and by moon- 
light until two o'clock a. m. As the river was now broad 
and clear of obstructions, I, only, remained on guard one 
night while the others slept ; so I enjoyed many quiet hours 
as we moved silently onward in the dead calm and stillness, 
and in the beautiful moonlight. We journeyed the entire 
night, the following night, in order to reach Therezina the next 
day. 

About noon, the last day, the scream of a locomotive 
whistle suddenly reached us — the first I had heard in fourteen 
months — another pleasant reminder of civilization ; and 
shortly afterward, as we swung around a bend in the river, 
the Capital of Piauhy stood revealed to our admiring gaze 
a few miles down the river. It appeared perfectly white, as 
do all Brazilian cities when viewed from a distance, and 
very beautiful and charming in the brilliant sunlight as it 
loomed above the green trees and wild vegetation that sur- 
rounded it. Yet, when one enters the streets of these cities, 
they are usually found to be filthy and ill-smelling. There- 
zina, which is a medieval-like town of six thousand inhabitants, 
is not an exception to this rule. 

We encountered at Therezina, a flourishing mission of 
the Presbyterian Church, the first permanently organized 
mission work we had met with in more than a year. 

We disembarked and abandoned our faithful balsa on the 
opposite side of the river from Therezina, at a village called 
Sao Jose das Flores, from which point we traveled the next 

245 



Brazil 

morning by a short, narrow-gauge railway, to the city of 
Caxias. 

Sao Jose das Flores has more the appearance of a savage 
than a civilized village. The little houses are constructed 
entirely of palm-branches laid over a frame-work of bamboo 
poles, and the back-yards are fenced with bamboo rods. 
Just as we were carrying our baggage up from the river, a 
fire broke out in one of these fences and communicated in- 
stantly with the dwellings. Everything was as dry as tinder 
for the terrible drought had not yet been broken in this locality ; 
moreover, dead palm-branches will burn fiercely in any event ; 
so the huts began to vanish almost as if they were sacks of 
gunpowder. Indeed, they burst into flames so suddenly that 
the inmates scarcely had time to rush out of doors, much 
less to save anything. The first things they try to save when 
they have time, are the doors and window-frames and shutters. 
Of course, there was no water in a place like this other than 
that which the drudging, sweating women carried up from 
the river in clay pots on their heads. 



246 




John Lisbon Square, Sao Louiz de Maranhao. 



See Chapter xxii. 



Chapter XXII. 

LIFE IN NORTH BRAZIL.— THE EVANGEL.— BOAT- 
ING ON THE ITAPICURll— LEPERS.— INTER- 
MENTS.— SEPULCHRAL NICHES.— HU- 
MAN BONE- YARDS.— COMMERCE. 

Taking a last drink of thin, yellow mud from the Parna- 
hyba, we traveled northeast to the city of Caxias, a distance 
of sixty-four miles, consuming four hours in the journey. 
Arriving here, we learned with dismay that we would have 
to wait a week for the next steamer descending the river 
Itapicuru, three hundred and fifty miles to the city of Sao 
(Sowng) Louis de Maranhao. Our funds were now so low 
that the expense of remaining a week at Caxias would con- 
sume all we had, leaving nothing for steamboat fare. But 
knowing of nothing that we could do to alter the situation, 
we went to the hotel believing that God would provide for 
us as He had always done. 

This was the first real hotel I had seen in fourteen months, 
during which time I had traveled in all kinds of ways nearly 
four thousand miles. It was a one story building with almost 
no wood in its construction but the doors, window-frames and 
rafters. The walls were of brick or clay plastered over inside 
and out, the roof was of tile, and the floor pavement. The 
body of it fronted on the street, and from this two wings ex- 
tended back from the right and left side enclosing a court- 
yard. The dining-room was a broad veranda opening into the 
court-yard. We were given a large, lofty apartment in which 
there was no bed or bedding of any sort. But we found rows 
of big hooks on opposite walls about six feet above the pave- 

247 



Brazil 

ment ; and to these we hung our beds, which we carried with 
us, as do all travelers in this part of the world. Every one 
in North Brazil sleeps in a hammock throughout the year 
because of the heat, for hammocks are much cooler than beds. 
Leaving home to be gone over night, one always takes a ham- 
mock and a blanket in a sack. The landlord, or housekeeper, 
is thus saved the trouble and expense of providing beds for 
guests. Every room in the houses of the better classes, includ- 
ing the broad, open veranda which fronts on the court-yard 
and is used as a dining-room, has big hooks secured to the 
walls. Therefore, as regards lodging, any housekeeper can 
accommodate twenty or thirty visitors without lifting a finger. 

The next day after our arrival at Caxias, we learned, ac- 
cidentally, that the Presbyterian Church had a strong, well 
organized mission here in charge of Mr. Thompson, who, when 
we called upon him, insisted that we stay with him while in 
the city. We could but regard this as a divine providence, 
for, in addition to spending several pleasant, happy days with 
earnest Christian missionaries, the question of reaching Mar- 
anhao was easily solved. Furthermore, I had another severe 
attack of intermittent fever, and was fortunate to be where 
I could be kindly cared for. I am under a lasting debt of 
gratitude to these dear friends. 

Mr. Thompson's house, for which he paid a rental of five 
dollars per month, was similar in plan to the hotel. Here, 
his congregation met, after the manner of the primitive Chris- 
tians, in a room which could accommodate sixty or seventy 
persons. Several meetings were held regularly each week, 
all of which were well attended by earnest, enthusiastic fol- 
lowers of Christ. One of the most ardent and outspoken of 
the native Christians conducted a private school in his own 
house, having an enrollment of nearly one hundred pupils. 
He had a number of Scripture texts displayed around the 
large school-room, and besides, had Mr. Thompson conduct 
a Gospel meeting here one evening each week. Mr. Thomp- 
son preached expository sermons, which seems to be the cus- 
tom of all the missionaries. It is necessary to make the ser- 

248 




The Principal Business Street of the City of Maranhao. 




Juiz de Fora, in the State of Minas Geraes, where the M. E. Church (South) is conducting 

a Great Educational Work. 



See Chapter xxii. 



Brazil 

mons Bible lectures, because, prior to attending the mission, 
the people are entirely ignorant of the Word of God. 

The inhabitants of Caxias are much given over to idolatry. 
Going about the town, one can see through the open doors 
and windows everywhere the little images standing in their 
niches in the principal rooms. In the square in front of the 
most important temple, is a huge wooden cross to which is 
secured a long pole with a sponge attached to one end, a 
ladder, a spear, a hammer and spikes, and the figure of a cock 
surmounting all. 

The city has a population of ten thousand. It had four 
cotton-mills at the time of our visit, which were doing a 
lucrative business. Though much of the raw material had 
to be imported, the finished product commanded a high price. 
We passed a sugar-mill before reaching the city which was 
also doing a very profitable business. But labor has been very 
scarce in this part of Brazil since slavery was abolished, and 
various enterprises, such as cotton culture, have fallen into 
decay. No rain had fallen at Caxias for a year, and the heat 
was intense, but the first downpour came while we were there, 
bringing gladness to every one. 

At length, the hour came to begin the last stage of our 
journey to the coast; and as our boat was to leave early 
in the morning, we embarked the previous evening, and thus 
had the choice of a place to swing our hammocks. We passed 
a pleasant night on board, enjoying the fresh air. Nearly all 
the other male passengers had to suspend their hammocks ever 
and around the dining-tables, so could not enjoy the advantage 
of reclining in them during the day. 

The " dining-saloon " of our little steamer — a side wheeler, 
burning wood — if I dare call it a saloon, was the upper deck 
back of the pilot-house. This deck was covered, but open 
at the sides. We found it very enjoyable, indeed, dining in 
this open place where we could breathe the open air, and be 
entertained by a panorama of strange scenes along the pretty 
little river. The trip proved .a continual picnic. The river 
was but three feet deep at Caxias, and so narrow that, during 

249 



Brazil 

the first day of our voyage, we were curried continually by the 
branches of the trees that reached out over the water. 
Moreover, the bends were so abrupt, in addition to the nar- 
rowness of the stream, that the boat could not be steered 
around them, and had to be stopped while several men, 
standing at the point of the bow, pushed it around with pikes. 
Our forward deck appeared to be a zoological park. Besides 
poultry, there were four-footed beasts and several varieties of 
wild birds in cages, or chained. One was a big crowned 
hawk, which was held captive by a chain around its leg, 
and that amused itself by pouncing from time to time upon 
a coop full of chickens. As we were disembarking at our 
destination, one member of this menagerie — a deer — sprang 
overboard and struck out for land across the bay at an aston- 
ishing pace, making such fast time that the boatmen had 
to do quick work to overtake it. Civilized Brazilians, like the 
savages, some of whose blood flows in their veins, take much 
pleasure in keeping many kinds of wild creatures about them. 
Tapirs, wild hogs and capibaras may be seen going in and 
out of a house as freely as the human occupants, together 
with various wild fowls ; and peevish, grimacing, or prehensile 
tailed monkeys, screaming parrots or macaws climb about 
the house destroying anything within reach, while love birds 
perch on the shoulders of their mistresses and lizards nestle in 
their bosoms. 

Our passage from Caxias to Mahanhao cost us but nine 
dollars each, including food, and we were three days and 
nights on the boat. It was midnight, Sunday, when our 
steamer anchored in front of the city of Maranhao; so we 
waited until morning to disembark, and were then taken in 
charge by Mr. Womeldorf, the Presbyterian missionary, and 
entertained with Christian hospitality. 

There is a Presbyterian church in this city which was 
organized in 1885 by Dr. Butler, a medical missionary, and 
which has a church edifice. A native pastor was in charge 
at the time of our visit, but the congregation could assume 
but a small part of his support. He was therefore given a 

250 



Brazil. 

meagre stipend by the Board of Foreign Missions, and in 
addition, earned about twenty-five dollars per month by 
teaching two hours each day in the government academy for 
young men. Altogether, his income amounted to about fifty 
dollars per month, and he had a large family. 

The reader will perhaps have noted with surprise how 
few mission stations were encountered in traveling about 
five thousand miles from the city of Sao Paulo to the city of 
Maranhao. Passing beyond Riberao Preito, which is twelve 
hours ride from Sao Paulo, the next mission center was 
Uberaba, some three hundred miles farther northwest. Here 
resided but one missionary, who visited once or twice each 
year the villages within his reach. 

The next mission center was Araguary, the terminus of 
the railway, where also was but one missionary who visited 
several points once or twice annually, reaching out some two 
hundred miles. 

Leaving the Araguary district, I met no Gospel mission 
until I reached the neighboring towns of Therezina and Caxias 
— excepting the work just being started at Carolina — between 
which places, I traveled by horse and canoe nearly four 
thousand miles ; nor was there a mission for a thousand miles 
or more on either side of my path. 

At Caxias, there was but one missionary, with a native 
associate at Therezina. Between Caxias and Maranhao, there 
were no missionaries ; and at the latter city, but one missionary 
and the native pastor, though Mr. and Mrs. F. W. Miners 
are now conducting a successful mission there. It is thus 
evident that there is still room for many more laborers in these 
vast regions. 

The New Year entered while we were at Maranhao, and 
the week of prayer was observed at the little church. We 
assisted in these meetings, and also at a few additional evan- 
gelistic meetings. 

We saw here a colony of lepers that had been segregated 
by the city authorities in some old buildings just below the 
cemetery, which was in the heart of the city. As Mr. Womel- 

251 



Brazil 

dorf visited them at regular intervals to preach the Gospel, 
we accompanied him one Sunday, and had the privilege of 
preaching to them the message of God's love. On our ar- 
rival, they assembled promptly on the broad, open veranda, the 
floor of which was packed earth. We did not shake hands 
with them as we feared to come in contact with them ; nor did 
we sit anywhere, or touch anything. We merely stood in 
the center of this open place holding our hats and sunshades 
in our hands, while the poor lepers sat on rude benches, or 
stood a few paces from us. We did not go close to them, 
except once to distribute some pages of Gospel literature to 
the few who could read. They listened to us with close 
and respectful attention. Though we were virtually in the 
open air, yet the atmosphere we breathed was polluted with 
the stench arising from their bodies. 

There was only a brick wall between this company of 
lepers and the assembly of the dead— between the putrifying 
dead bodies and the putrifying living bodies. What a sad 
and revolting picture these unfortunate creatures presented 
as they slowly rotted while they lived ! The disease, which 
is of a red appearance, seems to attack the ears first, which 
swell until they hang down to the shoulders and become a 
mass of corruption. It also works in the joints of the ex- 
tremities, so that the fingers and toes of some of the victims 
had fallen off at the first or second joints. — Sufferers that 
had lost their fingers at the first joint, were sure to be found 
lacking the toes at this joint also. — Other victims had neither 
fingers nor toes. Several were minus both hands and feet; 
one or both eyes of others were gone ; while the faces and 
noses of still others were decomposing. These lepers keep a 
few dogs, and they, too, appeared to be afflicted with this 
terrible disease and were slowly mortifying. Their bodies 
were masses of sickening ulcerations with scarcely a hair 
left. These unhappy victims of leprosy were scarcely more 
than decaying, ambulating corpses that were remaining un- 
buried for years. 

In this part of Brazil, a hearse, or any wheeled funeral 

252 



Brazil. 

car, is rarely or never used. The corpse is usually borne to 
the cemetery by four bare-footed negroes wearing black shirts 
and trousers and stove-pipe hats, who make this their voca- 
tion. A priest marches in advance dressed in the usual long, 
black cassock, or " skirt," reaching to the ankles, over which 
is a white shirt reaching to the waist, and over this again a 
kind of lace bertha. 

The cemetery, which occupies but a few acres of ground, 
is enclosed by a brick wall eight feet thick. This wall con- 
tains hundreds of mortuary chambers, into each one of which 
a body is placed and the opening sealed up. A chamber is 
leased for a period of three years only ; and if at the end of 
this time the lease is not renewed, the chamber is opened and 
the bones raked out and thrown into the " common pit," which 
is a sort of gehenna, or garbage dump, reminding one of that 
which existed outside the walls of Jerusalem at the time of 
Christ. This " common pit " is a big excavation in the ground. 
Even when a body is sepulchred in a grave, this grave is 
rented for three years only ; and if the lease is not renewed 
when it expires, a new grave is eventually dug at the same 
spot and the bones of the old tenant are thrown out into 
" the valley of dry bones " to make room for the new occu- 
pant. The leasing of graves, or tombs, for a few years only, 
is a universal practice in Brazil, and " the valley of dry bones " 
becomes the final resting place of the remains of a large ma- 
jority of the people. This is why the cemeteries, though 
very small, have room for all the bodies brought to them. 
There are, however, many permanent tombs in every ceme- 
tery. One in Buenos Aires is a city of palatial mausoleums. 
In southern Brazil, hearses are used, and all kinds are seen — 
black hearses, white hearses and red hearses, with drivers and 
footmen, uniformed the color of the hearse, on the box and 
standing at the back of the vehicle. Even hospitals run black, 
repulsive dead wagons with their names painted on them, in 
which their friendless dead are carted to the grave and 
buried coffinless, like dogs. 

One may see daily in Brazil, the remains of children borne 

253 



Brazil 

to the cemetery exposed to public gaze in very shallow, open, 
bright-colored coffins. These funeral corteges are on foot, 
and the box is carried by children of the age and sex of the 
deceased, the undertaker following behind carrying the coffin 
lid. Little girls just able to toddle, are seen struggling with 
a box containing the remains of an infant. They perspire pro- 
fusely in the high temperature, and set the coffin down in the 
street every few yards to rest. These funeral parties, though 
frequently composed of not more than ten or twenty persons, 
are often led by a band of music. The floral wreathes piled 
on the casket and placed on the tomb, are metallic. 

The city of Sao Louis de Maranhao, commonly known as 
Maranhao, was founded in 1612, and now has a population of 
forty thousand. It is a quaint, quiet, charming city. Being 
almost under the equator and at sea-level, a vertical sun 
breathes like a furnace upon it twelve months in the year. 
But as it is by the sea, tropical rains occur often throughout 
the year, affording a glad relief from the fierceness of the sun ; 
and the buildings are overgrown with moss, and vegetation is 
always verdant. Its commercial importance has decayed much 
since slavery times. The British Consul said he had known 
Maranhao to export two hundred thousand sacks of sugar 
annually, besides much raw cotton ; but in recent times, it 
had exported scarcely a sack of sugar, and had to import 
raw cotton to supply its cotton mills. Four cotton factories 
were in operation at the time of our visit, one of which had 
four hundred looms. In addition to these, there was a match 
factory and shot tower in the city. 

The sea propels a rice husking mill near the city. A 
dam was built across the narrow mouth of an inlet, over 
which the flowing tide rises and fills the bay ; then at ebb-tide, 
the water is let out through the mill-race. 



254 



■ . 




^-». 


. 






■*&&&*& 






i 


/ ■..,-!- 


Im IflLwiril * 


■,^_' i N»H^ *' P 




. '•• 


* 



View of the Harbor of Bahia from the Presbyterian Mission. 




The Best Residence District of the City of Bahia. The street is paved with cobblestones. 

See Chapter xxiii. 



Chapter XXIII. 

THE CITIES BY THE SEA.— MISSIONS.— PERSECU- 
TIONS.— SURBURBAN JUNGLES.— A CELEBRATED 
SHRINE.— REMARKABLE PHILANTHROPHY.— 
THE OVERTHROW OF THE INQUISITION. 

Again, the hour came to bid farewell to kind Christian 
friends, including Mr. Witte, to whom I had become forever 
obligated because of kindness shown me during illness, and 
embark on a Brazilian mail steamer bound southward to Rio 
de Janeiro, and calling at the capital cities enroute. The ship 
was anchored a mile from land and I had to go to it in a 
rowboat. The harbor of Maranhao is filling with sand; and 
at ebb-tide, numerous bars are revealed which enclose pools 
infested with sharks. I could not get a state-room during 
the first two days of the voyage ; nor would the officer allow 
me to swing my hammock on deck, saying that the ship was 
not a " hen roost." So I had to sleep standing. 

Our first call was at the city of Fortaleza, where we arrived 
early one morning. There is no harbor here, and of course, 
no docks ; so we anchored in the open ocean half a mile from 
shore. As we had to remain here until evening, I was eager 
to set foot on terra Hrrna and enjoy a little respite from being 
" rocked in the cradle of the deep," which, it is said, cannot 
be excelled for " bringing out all there is in a man." Going 
ashore in the custom-house boat, we drew up just outside the 
surf and the boat was turned with the stern to the land, the 
rudder removed, and an oar secured at the bow to steer by. 
A sharp lookout was now kept for a big billow; and just at 
the right instant, several mighty pulls were given by the two 

255 



Brazil 

files of oarsmen and we shot in on the crest of a huge wave. 
Great difficulty is experienced in landing merchandise here. 
I was told that fifty per cent, of the perishable goods are dam- 
aged. To liter, the goods are first transferred from the ship 
to barges, which are towed to a point just outside the breakers, 
then loaded into small boats and taken to land. It was an 
interesting, yet appalling spectacle to watch the stevedores 
battle with the billows, which were sweeping over the freighted 
barges and banging the boxes and barrels about in an alarming 
manner. It seemed a miracle that some of these men were 
not seriously injured or killed. 

Fortaleza was founded in 1611, is regularly built, has wide 
streets, and is said to be one of the most beautifully laid-out 
cities in Brazil. It has a population of forty-one thousand ; 
and though it is surrounded by a sterile region, is connected 
by rail with a fertile interior. 

Getting ashore, I called at once upon Dr. Beard, who was 
in charge of the Presbyterian mission, the only one established 
here. Dr. Beard is a medical missionary, and informed me 
that he sometimes treated a thousand cases in a single month, 
all of which were very poor people, and both service and medi- 
cine were given free of charge. This big practice aroused 
the jealousy of the local medical profession who tried to have 
him heavily fined and enjoined, but without success. More- 
over, as he preached the Gospel, as well as practiced, the holy 
priests trained their guns on him ; but with no better success 
than the medicos. 

At the time of my visit, Dr. Beard's congregation was 
building a church edifice at a cost of about seven thousand 
dollars, though the society had less than forty members, all 
of whom were poor, except one man, and he was merely in 
comfortable circumstances. These earnest Christians, how- 
ever, had a mind to give, which they did with gladness and 
liberality. There is little " dead matter " in the mission 
churches of South America, for every member gives heavily 
of his time and substance to extend the Kingdom of Christ. 
An English missionary, laboring in Buenos Aires, said to me, 

256 



& 




Residences in the Suburbs of Bahia. 



See Chapter xxiii. 



Brazil 

" Our church now has seventy members, and the number of 
our members is the number of our evangelists/' 

The following evening, our ship laid to off the city of Natal 
for an hour. There was no harbor, so we remained out in 
the open roadstead two miles from land. As the weather was 
a little stormy and darkness was coming on, the small boat 
that came out for the mail had no easy task. Natal is also 
a center of missionary activity conducted by the Presbyterian 
Church. 

Another night's run, and we entered the mouth of the 
river Parahyba and came up to a staging in still water in front 
of the village of Cabedello, the port of the city of Parahyba. 
This was the only time I saw a ship come up to a wharf in 
Brazil. 

There are cocoanut palm groves at Cabedello, and as the 
fruit was at that stage of development when the solid and 
liquid substance of the ripe nut is milk, the first thing many 
of the passengers did after disembarking, was to refresh them- 
selves with this nourishing beverage. 

The city of Parahyba is situated a few miles up the river 
from Cabedello. It was founded in 1579, and has a population 
of eighteen thousand. It also is a center of missionary ac- 
tivity conducted by the Presbyterians, though the entire 
missionary force is but two or three persons. 

One more night on the sea and our ship anchored in the 
open roadstead off the city of Pernambuco, the most easterly 
point of America. Only vessels of light draft can pass inside 
the limestone reef which forms a breakwater along the coast 
a great distance, and those that cannot, must anchor in the open 
ocean ; so that passengers have to be gymnasts to get into the 
small boats that take them to shore. Even vessels that 
pass inside the reef and find comparatively still water do not 
go up to a wharf. 

Pernambuco is called " The Venice of South America," be- 
cause it stands partly upon two islands and because of the 
many bridges that span the narrow channels separating the 
islands from each other and form the main land. These chan- 

17 257 



Brazil 

nels and bridges add greatly to the beauty of the city. It is 
the metropolis of the principal sugar-producing region of 
Brazil, was founded in 1504, and now has a population of 
about two hundred thousand. Rains occur frequently through- 
out the year, and the buildings are overgrown with moss. 

The Presbyterian, Baptist and " Help for Brazil " missions 
have each strong and flourishing churches in Pernambuco, 
and are seeing splendid results from their labors. Though 
for this great city and neighboring territory, the number of 
missionaries is ridiculously small. 

The Gospel has suffered much persecution in the state of 
Pernambuco. I met in the city an earnest young native Chris- 
tian who, while visiting in a neighboring town, met there a 
couple of families who were interested in the Gospel and in- 
vited them to meet with him at the home of one of them to 
hold a Gospel meeting. The local priest learning of this, 
a mob was formed which brutally assaulted the little company 
and broke up the furniture in the house ; and afterward the 
young evangelist had to be guarded by the soldier-police at 
the house where he was staying. For a long time, the be- 
livers residing in this village were subject to a more and more 
oppressive boycott, until life became intolerable. These per- 
secutions were instigated by the priest. 

In another district, the priest hired an assassin to slay a 
certain medical missionary who had acquired great influence 
over the people through healing their bodies as well as by pro- 
claiming the story of God's love which heals the soul. But 
the murderer, partially intoxicated, became confused, and 
killed, instead, a native minister who was accompanying the 
missionary. Just before the hour at which it was planned 
the crime should occur, the priest in question rode out of the 
village announcing to people by the way that a dead foreigner 
would soon be carried past. 

At another town, a band of murderers, armed with guns 
and long knives, bore down upon an assemblage of Christian 
worshippers, one dark night, thirsting for gore. But the be- 

258 




_JL~ Aj| |.| 










7~f 


^ „„, , ^^ 




L— :- ." '•*- " fc T" .,- -~ — - -- ~~ _. - "• ~, - - 



Partial Views of the City of Bahia from the Harbor. 



See Chanter xxiii. 



Brazil 

lievers, warned of their approach, dismissed the meeting at 
once, extinguished the lights, and dispersed by a back way. 
As the mob approached the entrance to the church, they 
descried in the darkness another band of men coming from 
the opposite direction ; and thinking them to be the Christians 
coming to drive them off, they opened fire on them. Their 
fire was returned, and three or four persons were killed 
and several wounded. When too late, it was discovered that 
the two mobs were friends bent upon the same murderous 
errand. 

Two young men who were in a seminary at Pernambuco, 
studying for the priesthood, were converted and left the in- 
stitution through having read, surreptitiously, the report of 
a controversy carried on through the public press between 
a missionary and a priest. They entered immediately the 
Presbyterian Theological Seminary at Sao Paulo to study for 
the ministry. 

An event similar to this occurred in Southern Brazil. 
" Not long ago," writes a missionary, " a warfare of words was 
carried on that gave the Christian mission a better standing 
than it could have gained, perhaps, in any other way. A 
German priest gathered all our Bibles he could find and 
burned them, telling the people they were false. The mis- 
sionary demanding that he prove his statements, a lively dis- 
cussion ensued through the daily newspapers, with the result 
that a great interest was awakened among the people, who 
eagerly bought a large number of copies of the Sacred Word 
and began to study it earnestly." 

Our ship remained two days at Pernambuco taking on 
several thousand sacks of sugar to transport to Rio de Janeiro ; 
so I had time to go with a resident missionary one evening to 
conduct a Gospel meeting at the home of a native Christian. 
This man was once in abject poverty ; but when he found the 
Lord Jesus Christ, he became so faithful and trustworthy in his 
work that his employer promoted him and increased his wages. 
Moreover, having now no vices to swallow up his substance, he 
saved money, and in time owned several houses. He had 

259 



Brazil 

his own residence built with a large room to which he might 
invite his friends to hear the glad tidings of God's love and 
mercy. We met here a large company of earnest, warm- 
hearted Christians. 

We anchored next in the well-known " Bay of All the 
Saints " in front of the great city of Bahia. There were no 
docks, so we remained a mile from shore, getting to land by 
means of small boats after much haggling with rapacious 
boatmen. 

Seen in the delightful morning sunlight from the deck of 
a ship lying in the harbor, this large, old city of white build- 
ings, extending several miles along the bluff, presents a 
beautiful appearance. But when one goes ashore and walks 
about the streets, he is disappointed to find parts of it in a 
filthy, malodorous condition, though where the wealthiest 
classes reside, it is more sanitary and beautiful. The com- 
mercial center of the city, called the lower city, lies at the 
foot of the bluff along the water's edge. It is connected with 
the upper city by a hydraulic lift and inclined planes, and 
by winding roadways. 

" The Bay of All the Saints " was first entered in 1503 by 
Amerigo Vespucci, and the city was founded in 1510. It now 
has a population of about two hundred thousand. For a 
long period after Brazil began to be colonized, it was the 
national capital. It is now the metropolis of the principal 
tobacco producing region of Brazil; and is surrounded by 
orange and banana groves and by a rich, tropical vegetation. 
Scattered and hidden everywhere in this dense, and for the 
most part wild and rank vegetation, are numerous rude human 
habitations that are scarcely better than the abodes of savages ; 
indeed, many savage dwellings are superior to them. Many 
of the dwellers in these hovels are little more than tame savages 
who have simply become acquainted with civilization, but 
never absorbed any of it. This is one of the surprising features 
of Brazilian cities, that, though one may find in them all 
the paraphernalia of the most advanced civilization, yet at 
the same time their suburbs and environs are rank jungles 

260 




A Partial View of the Business District of Pernambuco. 




The Limestone Reef that forms the Harbor of Pernambi 



See Chapter xxiii. 



Brazil 

populated by savages wearing clothes — more or less — and 
dwelling in rude huts. Even in the heart of the city of Bahia, 
boys eight or ten years old may be seen running in the streets 
entirely nude. It may be far better, perhaps, that the poor 
should dwell in their own savage huts, stowed away in the 
suburban jungles, eat their own bananas and manioc, and en- 
joy the fresh air and the sunlight, than to huddle in single 
rooms, or rather, in the cells and caverns of some big, human 
ant tower, or table-mountain, in the heart of the city. In this 
climate, these people do not really need houses, except to 
protect themselves from the elements, and their few chattels* 
perhaps, from thieves; else they might dwell under the trees. 

I shall never forget how interested and charmed I was when 
I saw for the first time the orange, banana, and cocoanut 
palm groves, and other tropical fruits, growing in rich pro- 
fusion — and the tropical jungles, too, dotted with savage huts, 
in the suburbs of Bahia; and ate of the wonderful oranges for 
which this city is justly famous. 

Bahia is a city of temples. As a fellow passenger re- 
marked, their towers, or spires, " are as thick as the pickets 
on a fence." There is a cluster of them at one point, belonging 
to various religious orders. One, a Jesuit temple, was built 
two centuries ago of marble imported from Italy. It is said 
to be the finest basilica in Brazil. Another, the Bom Fim — Good 
End — is a famous shrine. The ceiling and walls of a large 
room to the right of the altar, are hung and covered with wax 
figures of legs, arms and nearly every other part of the human 
anatomy, representing ghastly and revolting sores and wounds ; 
and of rude pictures and sketches of all kinds of accidents and 
events, such as shootings, shipwrecks, death-bed scenes and 
other crises of human life. Persons near death from dis- 
ease, or meeting with accidents, or confronted by perils, real 
or imaginary, make vows to the " Holy One " whose shrine 
the Bom Fim is, and whose image is enthroned here, that if re- 
stored or delivered, they would acknowledge the favor by 
contributing some memorial of the event to the Bom Fim 
museum. 



261 



Brazil. 

At the entrance to this temple are two oil-paintings, so 
large that they nearly cover the wall. One is entitled, 
" The Death of the Saint," and represents numerous priests, 
friars, monks and nuns, crowding about the bed of a moribund 
who is devoutly kissing a crucifix, while angelic beings are 
hovering above him to receive his soul. The other painting 
is entitled, " The Death of the Sinner," and represents the 
moribund refusing to kiss the crucifix, with the result that the 
attending brigade of the priestly army is fleeing from him 
in horror, while numerous horned and harpoon-tailed demons 
are flocking in to receive his soul, and escort it to the place of 
eternal torture. A third huge painting in this temple repre- 
sents his satanic majesty in what are believed to be his real 
dimensions, and true appearance — horns, hoofs, harpoon-tail, 
wolf-ears, and a trident in his hands. These paintings are de- 
signed to prey upon and degrade the minds of an ignorant and 
superstitious people, and to keep them, body and mind, com- 
pletely under the spell of the priest. 

Bahia is an important missionary center of the Presbyte- 
rian and Baptist Societies, both having here strong and flour- 
ishing churches and splendid schools. At the time of my visit, 
two hundred children were attending the school of the former 
in the heart of the city. Once, severe criticisms of this school, 
written by a priest, were published in a leading daily. This 
caught the eye of a prominent cotton manufacturer of the city. 
Desiring to know just what kind of a school it was, he visited 
it; and when he saw the splendidly equipped school rooms, 
the cultured, refined Christian teachers, the host of bright, 
happy, well-dressed boys and girls, and the great progress 
they had made in their studies, he was delighted, and deeply 
impressed. " I want you to organize a school, just like this 
one, in my part of the city, for the children of my employees," 
said he, finally, to the missionary in charge, " and I will bear 
all the expenses for rent, equipment and salaries of teachers." 
In due time, the school was organized and began its work, 
conducted just like the parent school — opened each day with 
the singing of one or two sweet Gospel hymns, a short Bible 

262 



Brazil. 

lesson and prayer, and Bible study in the school work. This 
event was the more remarkable because philanthrophy in 
Brazil seldom takes this practical form. 

The Baptist citadel, or mission headquarters, was a build- 
ing which was anciently the " Holy Office," or Inquisition. 
The thick-walled basement was the dungeon in which the un- 
happy victims were incarcerated while awaiting a dreaded 
though unknown fate. Above this, was the hall of judgment, 
into which the wretched victims were dragged to hear their 
sentence, without perhaps even knowing of what they were ac- 
cused, or having an opportunity to face their accusers and 
defend themselves. 

When the " Holy Office " ceased to be, the building became 
a slave-prison, which new use was in perfect accord with its 
previous use. The blood-stained tree still stands in the court- 
yard, to which the miserable slaves were bound, while being 
flogged until nearly dead. What unspeakable crimes and 
human agonies have not these walls witnessed ! But happier 
days have come, and all these diabolical doings have long 
since ceased. Time has rung down the curtain on these ter- 
rible tragedies and deeds of darkness — done by the Devil, dis- 
guised as Christ — never again to raise it, we hope, and a won- 
derful and glorious change has come in the scenes and events 
now daily transpiring within these fortification-like walls. 
Now, in the ancient judgment hall, where the sentence of 
human hate was once pronounced, the glorious Gospel of God's 
love is proclaimed ; while in the ancient prison-house, in the 
basement, where truth was often chained and strangled, print- 
ing-presses are clicking and singing, setting at liberty and 
sending out over the land, the beautiful love message of Him 
who came " to preach deliverance to the captives, to set at 
liberty them that are bruised, and to preach the Gospel to the 
poor." And where only the wails and cries of human anguish 
and despair were heard, the joyous song, and sound of study, 
and the merry, innocent laughter and play of some two hundred 
bright, happy, hopeful children are heard and seen as they as- 
semble daily to receive a Christian education, and to drink at 

263 



Brazil 

the matchless Fountain, of which Jesus said, " Whosoever 
drinketh of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst," 
for it " shall be in him a well of water springing up into ever- 
lasting life." 

What irony of fate history reveals ! This inquisition build- 
ing has fallen, by order of Providence, into the hands of the 
very persons, whom, above all others, it was erected to de- 
stroy. Two inquisition buildings in Mexico have come into 
the possession of the Methodist Church. They were bought 
because they were for sale at a very low price, not being suit- 
able for any ordinary use, but could be used by the Methodist 
Mission. Furthermore, the house in which Voltaire lived in 
Paris was used by the British & Foreign Bible Society for 
a long period, and filled with Bibles. Robert G. Ingersoll's 
homestead at Peoria, Illinois, is now the site of a beautiful 
Young Men's Christian Association building, and the Univer- 
sity of Virginia, founded by Jefferson and stocked with French 
infidels, came in time to have a faculty composed entirely of 
professing Christians. 



264 




Market Day in an Interior Village. 



See Chapter 



Chapter XXIV. 

REV. GEORGE W. CHAMBERLAIN, D. D. 

MARKET DAY.— A BARBAROUS HOTEL.— RIOTS.— 

SCHOOLS. 

It was at Bahia and vicinity that I got my first experiences 
of life in Brazil. It was here, too, that I was privileged to 
make the acquaintance of that veteran missionary of the Pres- 
byterian Church, the Rev. George W. Chamberlain, D. D., 
who has since entered the eternal mansions, and of whom I 
shall always cherish sacred memories. He was one of the 
first of modern missionaries to Brazil, where he labored with 
untiring devotion nearly forty years. By horse and mule, he 
traveled over wide regions sowing the seed of the Kingdom 
of God and planting churches. No missionary in Brazil was 
so well known and so much loved and esteemed by the native 
people. His was a beautiful, Christ-like character. I count 
it among the happiest experiences of my life that I had the 
honor of spending a brief time with him, and to have known 
him in his family life. His was an ideal missionary family, 
if I may take the liberty to say it ; and I have never known a 
family in which the Spirit of Christ seemed to reign so 
supremely as in his home. I take this opportunity to pay my 
humble tribute of love and esteem to his memory. 

Soon after I arrived in Brazil, Dr. Chamberlain invited 
me to accompany him on a short missionary journey into the 
interior. We crossed the " Bay of All the Saints," and ascended 
the little tide river Paraguassu to the twin towns of Cachoeira 
and SSo Felix, which nestle at the foot of bluffs eight hun- 

265 



Brazil. 

dred feet in height, where the Presbyterians now have 
strong, well-organized churches and a flourishing school. At 
the time of my visit, the little congregation at Cachoeira met 
in an " upper room " of a rude building in which dwelt two or 
three families. Dr. Chamberlain and I remained here over 
Sunday, passing two nights trying to sleep in a dungeon-like 
room off the meeting-room on a bed having bare boards for 
a mattress and a thin blanket for a sheet. Our food, too, 
was so unclean, and so different from anything I had ever 
seen, that I could not " make out a hearty meal," and began 
to think that, after all, real missionary life, like real war, was 
anything but glorious. 

Monday morning, we boarded a narrow-gauge railway 
train, climbed the bluff, and traveled over a fairly level plateau, 
some twenty miles to a town called the Feira de Santa Anna. 
It presented a most animated appearance when we arrived. A 
great market, called a fair in Brazil, is held here every Monday. 
These fairs, or markets, were formerly held every day in the 
week in a region, Sunday excepted, but in a different town 
or village each day. It is said that this is how the days of 
the week — except Saturday and Sunday, which are called, 
sabbado — seventh day, and domingo — Lord's day — came to be 
named second-fair-day (Monday) ; third-fair-day (Tuesday) ; 
fourth-fair-day ; fifth-fair-day, and so on. 

The people were gathered in hundreds and thousands at 
the Feira de Santa Anna ; the buyers and merchants coming 
chiefly from the city of Bahia, and the producers coming in 
from everywhere on horses and mules and on foot, and with 
ox-carts. Cattle, horses, mules, hogs, chickens, home-made 
cheeses, oranges, bananas, corn and manioc meal, and nu- 
merous other fruits and vegetables, grown in this region, 
were offered for sale, from baskets, bags and trays, placed 
upon the ground in the open square. Forty or fifty cattle are 
slaughtered every Monday to feed the multitude, but they are 
mostly old cows, for the best animals are driven to Bahia 
where they command a better price. Numerous fine mules 

266 



Brazil 

were exhibited, some of which sold for three or four hundred 
dollars each. 

Strangely enough, there was but one hotel in this town — 
a barbarous one-story building. The horde of producers, and 
many of the buyers as well, Gypsy-like, were not the sort 
of people who stay at hotels of any kind. When we sat down 
to breakfast at noon at the hotel, I found myself, unhappily, 
facing the entrance to the cook-room, into which I could 
plainly see. The floor was of earth, and the walls nearly the 
color of the floor; and in addition to several greasy, slatternly 
individuals, who moved about leisurely, preparing our food, 
the barn-yard and the nursery seemed to have collected there, 
for fowls, pigs, goats and dogs were going in and out at will, 
while nude children, the color of the ground, crawled about 
among the live stock. Scraps of food, instead of being thrown 
into a garbage receptacle, or out of doors, were merely scuffed 
off the table onto the ground, where they were quickly seized 
by some beast, bird of boy. Observing this Zoo, in the culi- 
nary department did not improve my appetite. It impressed 
me the more, as I was then unfamiliar with life in Brazil. 

After breakfast, a few people assernbled in the dining-room 
and Dr. Chamberlain conducted a brief Gospel meeting. But 
this town has strongly resisted the Evangel. 

A priest once held sway here who was so villainous that, 
notwithstanding all the ingenious doctrines that have been de- 
vised to excuse vice and diabolism on the part of priests, even 
these people became unable to tolerate him, and ejected him 
from the town. But instead of relegating him to a dungeon, or 
to oblivion, his superior set him up in another parish, where he 
might continue to practice his diabolical deeds and prey upon 
a deluded and debased people. What a sad comment this is 
upon the character and state of mind of these people, that the 
foisting upon them of such a monster to be their spiritual and 
moral teacher and guide could be even thought of, much less 
that they should submit themselves to him for years. I read 
one day, in one of the leading dailies of Ceara, an open letter 

267 



Brazil 

setting forth the long practiced enormities of another of these 
sacred bullies, and imploring his superior to remove him. 

Dr, Chamberlain afterward established a mission at the 
Feira de Santa Anna, and his daughter organized a school 
in a building which she had constructed especially for the pur- 
pose. But yellow fever finally invaded the missionary family, 
removing Miss Chamberlain and her native assistant, and the 
school was given up for a time, to the grief of many bright 
boys and girls. There never was a more ideal and beautiful 
school than this, it seems to me, because there never was a 
more ideal teacher than Mary Christian Chamberlain. She 
was not only thoroughly trained intellectually for her chosen 
work, but had the heart culture as well, which is of great 
importance. She had caught the spirit of the Great Teacher 
in a high degree and loved devotedly her work and her pupils. 
Moreover, she was an ideal daughter, and it is not strange 
that she was the idol of her parents' hearts. 

When the school was first opened and pupils sought, one 
prominent woman declared that under no circumstances would 
she allow her children to attend — she " would see them grow 
up mules first." So she continued to send them to the local 
semi-barbarous school. But as the weeks passed, and she 
frequently heard her neighbors' children speaking with grati- 
tude and enthusiasm of their wonderful new school and sing- 
ing the praises of their extraordinary teacher, knew what their 
studies were, saw that they were making what seemed to 
her marvelous progress in branches hitherto unknown to her, 
and that it was a joy to them to attend the school, her motherly 
pride overcame her prejudice. She could not longer endure to 
see her children really remain mules, compared to these other 
boys and girls, for, mother-like, she thought her children just as 
good, and perhaps a little better than other children. There- 
fore, it was not long ere her three bright, handsome little ones 
were seen, beautifully dressed and apparently quite happy, at- 
tending the new school. 

No truant officer was needed for this school. The children 
loved their school and their teacher so much that nothing 

268 



Brazil. 

but force would absent them; and when compelled to remain 
at home, they were almost heart-broken. The happiness of all 
seemed complete when at school. Could they have had their 
wish, the school would have remained in session seven days 
each week, without vacations. Assisting at the opening ex- 
ercises of the school each morning for a time, it did my soul 
good to hear the children sing our familiar Gospel hymns 
which had been translated into their language. They had 
memorized every verse of each hymn, and sang whole- 
heartedly. 

Dr. Chamberlain had a wing of his spacious residence fitted 
up as a preaching hall. Though it is always necessary to have 
some room set apart permanently for the holding of mission 
services, yet for a time, in many cases, comparatively few 
persons have the courage to enter such a hall, for the terror 
of the priest is upon them. Spies, appointed by the priest, 
watch these places, and every person who enters is marked. 

Hoping to reach the ear of the general public with the 
Gospel message, Dr. Chamberlain decided to try to hold a 
few open air meetings in the square. One evening, therefore, 
he made the attempt, assisted by members of his family and 
native Christians, the meeting having been advertised. But 
the priest was not indifferent to this threatened encroachment 
upon what he considered his exclusive domain, so organized 
what appeared to be at first merely a harmless procession, but 
which turned out to be a mob in disguise. This horde of 
misguided men left their rendezvous an apparently harmless 
religious procession, but when they reached the place where 
Dr. Chamberlain and his party were holding forth in the pres- 
ence of a large assemblage, they suddenly became a mob and 
begain to hurl large stones at the defenceless missionary party ; 
and but for the arrival of the police — though they were careful 
not to appear until the meeting was broken up — the mis- 
sionaries might have suffered harm. Strange to say, not one 
of the missionary party was struck, though many missiles 
were thrown ; while the ruffians and their friends accidentally 
struck one another, and a few were badly injured. Some of 

269 



Brazil 

the stones thrown weighed several pounds. Boulders and 
bricks appear to be the only argument these men have. The op- 
position was such that open air meetings here were abandoned. 
Previous to this, Dr. Chamberlain conducted open air meetings 
at Cachoeira and Sao Felix, and at each place, nearly a thou- 
sand persons gave thoughtful and respectful attention to the 
presentation of the Gospel by a native minister. 

I met at the Feira de Santa Anna, a native Christian col- 
porteur who had been employed by the American Bible So- 
ciety to go from village to village and visit every family in 
each place, offering the Bible for sale. Immediately upon his 
arrival at a certain village, once, his entire stock of Bibles was 
seized and publicly burned by order of the priest, who was 
not only the religious head of the district, but also the political, 
and but little less than a Caesar. 

Some people wonder why we sell the Bible, and if our do- 
ing so does not savor of commercialism. The price these 
Bibles are sold at is but a fraction of the cost of printing 
and distributing them. Moreover, experience has taught that 
it is necessary to make a small charge for the Books, otherwise 
the people would immediately beg from us our entire stock, 
ostensibly to read, but in reality to deliver them up to their 
masters, the priests, to be destroyed. Only a small percentage, 
apparently, of Bibles and Testaments, as ordinarily distributed, 
ever come to fruition, for the priests and their jackals, the 
modern " fowls of the air," collect and destroy a large pro- 
portion of them. To cut down the losses from this cause 
as much as possible, the missionary, or colporteur, should not 
hurry in his work, but should take time to make the families 
with whom he leaves a Bible comprehend somewhat that it is a 
Message to them personally from the Most High, which they 
should listen to and obey implicitly, and should guard as 
their most precious treasure; thus the attempted circumven- 
tion of the " fowls of the air," who would filch it away, will 
be defeated. The directors of Bible Societies should, perhaps, 
avoid emphasizing too much the mere number of volumes 
put out by their field men, but instead, should aim more at 

270 



Brazil. 

thoroughness of work. One tree well planted will yield more 
fruit than scores poorly planted, or left on the surface of the 
ground ; and one Bible placed in the hands of people for whom 
time has been taken to impress upon them its great value, 
will accomplish more than many left with those who remain 
ignorant of their worth. 

The drought and famine previously mentioned, had ex- 
tended into the state of Bahia, and a large number of its vic- 
tims had found their way, finally, to the Feira de Santa Anna, 
and other places, seeking relief. Every day, for a time, scores 
and even hundreds of these wretched, emaciated beings clam- 
ored for food at Dr. Chamberlain's door. They came in such 
a steady stream that we were forced to tell them all to come 
only at noon each day; and when they came at the hour ap- 
pointed, we brought them all into the mission hall and gave 
them food for the body, and also food for the soul, for we 
read and taught them God's Word, sang a Gospel hymn or 
two and prayed for them. Seventy to one hundred fifty were 
fed each day for a time. The food given them was stewed 
fresh beef and manioc meal. The abdomens of many of the 
children that were mere skeletons, were inflated like balloons ; 
while other young children that had existed in a state of semi- 
starvation for years, had, apparently, long since ceased to 
grow, and were not much too large to be pushed into an 
overcoat pocket. One of the last acts of Mary Christian 
Chamberlain's beautiful, Christ-like life, and that of her 
native assistant, was to dispense not only the bread that nour- 
ishes the mortal, but also that which nourishes the immortal. 
Such famished ones as were too ill, or too nearly dead to 
leave the sheds in which they had taken shelter, were visited 
and ministered to. Some districts were nearly depopulated 
because of the famine. People died even along the trails and 
highways where there was no one to bury them, and were 
devoured by the buzzards. 

Gospel missions are now flourishing at a number of points 
in the state of Bahia. But there is a mere corporal's guard 

271 



Brazil 

of missionaries and native pastors for this great territory, 
which has a population of nearly two millions. 

The following is an instance of how the Gospel is some- 
times firmly planted in a locality: A certain man, resident of 
an isolated village some three hundred miles in the interior, 
while traveling far from home stumbled upon the Gospel, 
like the man who stumbled upon a treasure hid in a field, 
and received it with joy. Returning home, he at once invited 
his friends and neighbors to gather at his house to hear the 
reading of the sweet story of God's love and pardoning grace 
from the Bible which he had brought with him. The result 
was that a dozen or more of his male friends soon joined him 
in his new-found faith. Informed of what was occurring, 
the local priest raised a storm of opposition, but was com- 
pletely vanquished in his attempt to " catch away that which 
was sown," or to frighten and drive away from the village 
these new Christians. Later, the victorious little band sent a 
petition to the missionaries at the city of Bahia urgently de- 
siring that some one should be sent to preach the Gospel in 
their village. Their request was granted. Thus the Gospel 
is being planted in many places and bearing much fruit. 



272 





The Bamboo Grove in the Zoological Garden at Rio de Janeiro. 



See Chapter xxv. 



Chapter XXV. 

A CITY BEAUTIFUL FOR SITUATION.— A MISSION 

CENTER.— CARNIVALS. — THE LOTTERY. — SAO 

PAULO.— COFFEE AND MILK SALOONS. 

Resuming our voyage to Rio de Janeiro : After forty-eight 
hours steaming from Bahai, our good ship threaded its way 
among great rocks and mountains, which it approached so 
closely at times that apparently one might have jumped ashore, 
and at last dropped anchor in what appeared to be merely a 
small lake or pond nestling among the mountains, far dis- 
tant from the heaving sea. This was the beautiful and pic- 
turesque harbor of the little city called Nossa Senhora da 
Victoria — Our Lady of Victory — which lay at the foot of 
the mountains on one side of the harbor. It is the capital of 
the state called Espirito Santo — Holy Spirit. Though it was 
founded in 1535, and is a great coffee exporting town, it has 
a population of but ten thousand. The climate, however, is 
unhealthy. The Methodists have a mission here. 

Another night and a day on the sea, and on a Sunday 
afternoon, we plowed through the narrow, rock-bound gates 
into the famous and exceedingly picturesque harbor of Rio de 
Janeiro, which is considered one of the finest harbors in the 
world. It is seventeen miles long, two to four miles broad, 
is deep, and is encircled by forest-covered mountains and 
completely sheltered from the sea. 

Rio de Janeiro is the capital of Brazil. It was founded 
in 1567, and has a population estimated at eight hundred 
thousand, which are crowded into a space of nine square miles. 
The city extends fifteen miles along the edge of the harbor 

18 273 



Brazil 

and around the base of the mountains that rise in the back- 
ground to an altitude of five or six thousand feet, some of the 
spurs of which extend into the city. One of these spurs, the 
famous Corcovada — Hunchback — rises vertically out of the 
city to a height of nearly half a mile, from the summit of 
which one might jump down into the city's renowned botan- 
ical garden. Probably no city in the world is so magnificently 
situated as Rio de Janeiro. The city itself, also, is remarkably 
beautiful and charming in those sections where the best resi- 
dences are found. But there is the same monotony of archi- 
tectural style that prevails in all South American cities, 
which detracts from their beauty. The cities of South America 
are oriental rather than occidental. Most of the streets of 
Rio de Janeiro, are extremely narrow, as if there was in- 
sufficient room on the earth. Even the city's famous and cap- 
tivating retail street, the Rua do Ouvidor, which is nearly as 
well known over the world as the name of the city itself, is 
so narrow that it has to be given up entirely to pedestrians, 
no vehicle being allowed to enter it except between midnight 
and dawn. Other streets, though traversed by car lines, are 
so narrow that the pedestrian, following the apology for a 
side-walk, which may not be more than eighteen inches broad, 
must flatten himself against the side of a building while the 
car passes. When in Pernambuco, I had even to get off the 
street entirely into a doorway to avoid being crushed. 

But more recently, " broad avenues have been cut through 
the center of the most populous districts of Rio de Janeiro. 
Along the edge of the surpassingly beautiful bay has been 
constructed a triple boulevard for horsemen, carriages and 
automobiles. It is probably unsurpassed in picturesque 
beauty by any roadway in the world. For more than twenty 
miles the shore of the bay has been lined with embankments 
or quays of solid masonry." Besides these splendid improve- 
ments, there has been built " an imposing series of harbors, 
basins and docks, with twelve miles of landing quays, suffi- 
cient to accommodate the commerce of this port for a century 
to come." These public works have cost the government forty 

274 




The Rua do Ouvidor, the Great Retail Street of 
Rio de Janeiro. 



See Chapter xxv. 



Brazil 

millions of dollars, which has been a severe strain on the 
treasury. 

Rio de Janeiro exerts a transcendent influence over the 
whole of Brazil — as Paris does over the whole of France, and 
for much the same reasons, and far greater than the influence 
exerted by any city in the United States over the rest of 
the country. The reason for this supreme influence is that 
Rio de Janeiro is far the largest city in Brazil, having four- 
fold the population of any other city ; that it is the polit- 
ical, financial, commercial and social capital of the nation ; 
and finally, it was once the seat of empire and of centralized 
power. Its great dailies exert a vast influence in every part 
of the land, especially the Journal of Commerce, which goes 
wherever the mail goes, and is subscribed for and read as if 
it were the utterances of an oracle. No newspaper in the 
United States can compare with it in influence. The chief 
reason for the influence exerted by the press of Brazil is, 
that it is the only literature of most of the people, and they 
attach great importance to anything they see in print. Non- 
circulating libraries and bookstores exist in only a few of 
the largest cities, and the masses of the people rarely see a 
book. 

Brazilian literature is very limited compared with Eng- 
lish, French and German literature. There is little induce- 
ment to publish books, for no work can have a large circula- 
tion. Only a small percentage of the people are able to read, 
of whom, but few desire to read books, preferring to waste 
their time in meaningless talk ; and of those who can and would 
read, only a fraction are able to buy books. Students of law, 
medicine, engineering and theology, must first acquire one of 
the great languages just named. Unfortunately, little of the 
Brazilian fiction that exists is of a wholesome moral tone, and 
much of it is more or less vicious, being influenced by French 
realism. 

Rio de Janeiro possesses a number of public institutions. 
The most important are the medical, military and polytechnic 
schools, the conservatory of music, the museum, the National 

275 



Brazil 

Library, containing two hundred forty-seven thousand vol- 
umes, an insane asylum, and a general hospital which is said 
to be one of the largest in the world, having over twelve 
hundred patients. Four or more missionary societies have 
strong, well-organized churches, missions and schools, one 
Presbyterian church, in charge of a native pastor, having 
over seven hundred members. Here also are the headquarters 
of the British and the American Bible Societies, which are 
doing a magnificent work in sending the Bible over the whole 
of Brazil. The Young Men's Christian Association is also 
strongly established here in a splendid building of its own and 
doing a great work for young men. This work was founded, 
and has been directed from the beginning by my dear friend Mr. 
Myron A. Clark, through whose untiring energy and devotion 
the beautiful new building came to be. Owing to his efforts, 
the Association has expanded and taken firm root at other places 
in Brazil. The other missionary societies, like the famous 
banyan tree, have reached out from the capital and taken root 
at many places in the interior. 

It was at Rio de Janeiro that the Gospel of God's love was 
preached for the first time in the western hemisphere, and by 
the Rev. John Bowles, the famous Huguenot preacher; who 
preached with such ardor and displayed such erudition that 
he confounded the Jesuits and made them fear that he would 
" pervert " the very elect among them. He was confined eight 
years in a sickening prison, then decapitated, the noted Jesuit, 
Anchieta, acting as executioner in place of the regular heads- 
man who lost his nerve and could not perform his bloody 
function. Many Brazilians to-day deeply regret this unhappy 
event. What a different world Brazil might now be if the 
Gospel had been permitted to take root and grow at that 
time. 

It is over half a century since the inception of modern 
evangelical mission work in Brazil. Dr. Cally, a Scotch phy- 
sician and philanthropist, was one of the first missionaries, 
and founded what is known to-day as the " Help for Brazil 
Mission." He had previously conducted a great mission work 

276 




Ccrcovada Mountain from the Rear. Its summit is 2,400 feet directly above the city of 

Rio de Janeiro. 




The Botanical Garden, Rio de Janeiro. 



See Chapter xxv. 



Brazil. 

on the Madeira Islands, using the Bible as a text-book in his 
schools. But the nature of his work becoming known to the 
modern scribes and pharasees, the priests, they stirred up a 
violent persecution against him; his house was attacked by 
a mob and demolished, with its valuable contents; while he 
escaped only with his life by getting into a sack and being 
carried away on a man's shoulders, as if he were a bag of 
potatoes, and put on board a British ship that lay in the 
harbor. After this, he established himself in Rio de Janeiro, 
where a beautiful work was built up and branch missions 
were organized at other places. 

The Rev. Mr. Symmington, a Presbyterian, was another 
of the first missionaries. He published an evangelistic journal 
from the beginning of his work, thus proclaiming the Gospel 
with voice and pen with excellent results. 

Though the Gospel has been planted at a large number 
of places in South America and splendid results have been 
achieved, yet the harvest is very great, while the laborers 
are few indeed. Of the fifty millions of people, probably not 
many more than a million have been touched by the Gospel. 
The force that the Christian Church is sending against this 
mighty host is as if Japan had sent a corporal's guard against 
the entire Russian army. 

Even in the magnificent harbor of the great city of Rio 
de Janeiro, there were no docks at this time for our ship, so 
we anchored a mile from land. After the usual haggling with 
boatmen and getting ashore this Sunday afternoon, we found 
no cartmen to transfer our baggage. But a few carriers ap- 
peared, one of whom insisted upon binding my two pack- 
mule trunks and other effects into one package and transfer- 
ring it upon his head, notwithstanding that the weight was 
nearly two hundred pounds. His companions helped him to 
get the burden on his head; but after carrying it several 
block, it proved too heavy for him and he would have 
dropped it in the street had not my companion and I un- 
loaded him. Finally, when we got everything to a hotel, and 
I voluntarily tendered him triple the amount of pay he should 
have received, he demanded more. 

277 



Brazil 

The annual Carnival was at hightide this day, Sunday, 
and brigades of carretas — ugly faces — were perambulating the 
principal thoroughfares squeaking like hordes of rates playing 
and fighting. This great Carnival is the deification and wor- 
ship of carnality. All restraint is cast to the wind and the 
" reins are thrown on the neck of passion." Hell seems to 
have let our for a holiday. Multitudes, dressed in fantastic 
costumes and wearing hideous false-faces representing dis- 
gusting dragons devouring repulsive reptiles, besides many 
other fearsome and revolting make-ups, run about the 
streets day and night, penetrate in groups into stores and 
other public places, and into private residences, taking all 
manner of liberties and talking nonsense, or worse, in falsetto 
voices. The young men of the most prominent families 
organize themselves into clubs calling themselves " Lieu- 
tenants of the Devil," " Companions of the Devil," and sim- 
ilar suggestive titles, and drive about the streets in open 
day with semi-nude harlots ; and at night, give a grand satur- 
nalian ball. Every one tries, apparently, to impersonate his 
conception of the Prince of Darkness. This grand, universal 
bacchanalia continues for two or three weeks prior to " Ash 
Wednesday." Then, on the vesper of this day, it ceases ab- 
solutely ; and the hordes of would-be demons, dragons, hob- 
goblins and clowns, vanish suddenly from the streets, " re- 
pent," " confess," put ashes on their heads, " fast " and pre- 
pare for " holy week," though Bacchus does not cease to be 
worshipped. 

Gambling and the lottery, the prostitution of hope, is a colos- 
sal national vice in Brazil. The people are stricken with a 
specie of madness on this subject of securing a fortune, or 
at least a competency, without having given anything in re- 
turn for it — of obtaining " something for nothing." It casts 
a black shadow over national life and paralyzes honest effort 
everywhere. The minds of the rising generation are poisoned 
and diseased with this idea. Every newspaper daily holds 
up to the gaze of the morbid public, in stunning headlines, 
announcements of fortunes to be secured by the simple pur- 

278 




The Entrance to the Harbor of Rio de Janeiro. 




Seaside Avenue, Rio de Janeiro. 



See Chapter xxv. 



Brazil 

chase of a ticket for twenty-five cents or a dollar; while lot- 
tery booths, aflame with catchy advertisements, obstruct the 
streets in every large city, and ticket hawkers are omnipresent 
announcing their pernicious goods in fog-horn voices or way- 
laying pedestrians. Armies of these ticket venders, like 
swarms of ravenous parasites, subsist wholly by this specie 
of national self-consumption. Multitudes of persons of both 
sexes devote for years all the money they can spare to the 
purchase of lottery tickets, hoping with feverish hope, each 
time they buy one that it will bear the " lucky number," and 
bring them wealth and affluence. 

As might be imagined, the Brazilian capital presents a 
very gay and brilliant appearance ; but behind this beautiful 
and attractive exterior, lurks a huge and hideous " underworld." 
It is authoritatively declared that Brazil, with Argentina, is the 
greatest market in the world for " white slaves," imported 
from Europe. Though Brazil has enacted strict laws against 
this revolting traffic, yet they are a dead letter owing to the 
venality of the police and other government officers. 

One more jump, this time by rail, and I was again in the 
city of Sao Paulo, after having traveled about seven thousand 
miles and circumscribed a large portion of Brazil. This city 
is the metropolis of the chief coffee-producing region of 
Brazil, and of the world, for about two hundred thousand 
tons of this product pass through it annually. It is situated 
upon a plateau surrounded by mountains, and directly upon 
the line of the tropic of Capricorn ; and though but thirty 
or forty miles from the sea, it is twenty-four hundred feet 
above sea-level. The climate is therefore salubrious, and 
the air cool and exhilarating throughout the entire year, espe- 
cially the nights, and one can always enjoy refreshing sleep. 
The city was founded in 1554, nearly seventy years before 
the landing of the Pilgrims at Plymouth Rock. It has grown 
very rapidly during the last two decades owing to the influx 
of Italian and German emigrants. The former are imported 
largely by the government to provide laborers for the coffee 
culture. In 1890, the population was sixty-five thousand, 

279 



Brazil 

while to-day it is estimated at two hundred thousand or more. 
Unfortunately, in bringing in laborers, passage free, requiring 
only that they agree to work a certain length of time on the 
coffee plantations at regular wages, the government flooded 
the land with the scum and dregs of Italy. The city of Sao 
Paulo is over-run with sneak thieves, " porch climbers," and 
other orders of criminals. 

The principal institutions of Sao Paulo are a memorial 
museum marking the spot where the declaration of independ- 
ence was first made, a law, polytechnic and normal school. 
There are also a few fine primary school buildings ; but even 
here are found schools more or less medieval. 

The city has a few manufacturing establishments ; but 
Brazil is not yet a manufacturing country, and most of the 
manufactured goods are imported. But the government is 
trying to stimulate home manufacture by imposing heavy 
duties on all imported manufactured goods. Sao Paulo is 
perhaps the most important railroad center in Brazil. 

The Presbyterians, Methodists and Baptists have healthy, 
growing churches and missions in Sao Paulo. The first named 
are also conducting a great educational work which had its 
humble beginning many years ago in the house of the Rev. 
J. Beatty Howell. It has now become a great institution, 
known as the American School and Mackenzie College, with 
an enrollment of seven hundred pupils in the primary and 
collegiate departments, and exerts a moulding influence on 
education in Brazil. The Presbyterians have also a Theo- 
logical Seminary here. From this city, also, missionary 
activities radiate in every direction to the neighboring towns 
and villages. 

The first months of my residence in Brazil were passed 
near the town of Jahu, the terminus of a railway, some three 
hundred miles west of Sao Paulo. The missionary who first 
preached the Gospel here was dragged through the streets by 
the beard. Afterward, Dr. Chamberlain evangelized here, and 
the Rev. J. Beatty Howell labored devotedly and successfully 
for many years in this region, going from place to place on 

280 



Brazil 

horseback. Once, when Dr. Chamberlain was preaching here, 
a judge attended a meeting by invitation ; but the next evening, 
a rifle ball was fired through the curtained window of his 
residence and penetrated the back of the chair at a desk 
where he usually sat at this hour, and where the assassin 
supposed he was sitting when the shot was fired. There is a 
church now at Jahu in charge of a native minister, and a 
few strong branch churches within twenty or thirty miles 
which are visited monthly, or bi-monthly by the Jahu minister. 
A lady missionary conducted a school for a time for the chil- 
dren of the poor country folk in the district where I stayed, 
the attendance at which was large as there was a strong 
church here. It was a bitter grief to these children when 
the school was permanently given up, for it was the joy 
of their lives. It is a great pity that these and multitudes of 
other children should be condemned to pass their earthly pil- 
grimage without the unspeakable benefits of a Christian 
education. There are but four or five native ministers for all 
the cities, towns and villages between Sao Paulo and Jahu. 
But, though many congregations see their pastor only a few 
times each year, they keep up all their Sunday and mid-week 
meetings, which are conducted by the elders who pray, read 
the Scriptures and comment upon them as they are able. 

One of the most important and interesting institutions of 
Brazilian cities is the coffee saloon, or restaurant. Coffee 
only is served in these places, and one kind of little cakes, a 
few of which are kept under glass covers on the small, marble- 
top tables. Men only, frequent these resorts, and they do so 
in large numbers, especially at mid-day and during the evening, 
and sip the clear, strong coffee while they chat regarding 
business, politics and social matters. 

Coffee has played an important part in the world's politics. 
A native of Abyssinia and Arabia, it was brought to London 
and the first coffee-house opened about the year 1671. The age 
of newspapers not having dawned, men were quick to make 
these resorts social and political exchanges where they might 
meet, ostensibly to sip the strange new beverage, but in real- 

281 



Brazil. 

ity, to hear and tell the news, discuss political matters, and 
to scheme and plot. Charles II., becoming suspicious of them, 
tried to suppress them, but without success. 

These coffee-houses are a great social feature of Brazilian 
city life. A small, triangular space in the heart of the city of 
Sao Paulo, on which front several of these resorts, is the 
meeting place of almost the entire male population. For hours 
every evening, not only the coffee saloons but the triangle in 
front, are crowded with well-dressed men who sit and slowly 
sip their coffee or stand about in small groups, and engage 
one another in animated conversations. The Brazilians are 
a very sociable people, and conversation among them never 
lags; nor was a Brazilian ever known to lack for words. 

In the city of Buenos Aires, there are many milk saloons 
where one may step up to a bar and get a glass of ice-cold 
milk for four cents. These places are owned and managed 
by the dairy companies, are painted white inside and out, and 
appear very clean. Business people are continually dropping 
in for a moment to enjoy a refreshing glass of milk, instead 
of entering a temple of Bacchus. 

Without doubt, the coffee houses prevent a vast amount 
of liquor drinking in the cities of Brazil. The great strength 
of the saloon in the United States is that it is a place where 
men of every grade may meet at any hour and enjoy them- 
selves in a social way ; but the coffee house meets this need 
much better than the bar-room. 



282 



Part HI. 

THE 
GOYANA CAMPAIGN. 

Chapter XXVI. 

EVANGELIZING.— LIFE AND DOINGS IN SOUTHERN 
GOYAZ. — GIDEON'S THREE HUNDRED MEN. — 
DOMESTIC ECONOMY.— A PRIMITIVE MILL. 
— RUM DISTILLERIES. — CATTLE DE- 
STROYED BY INSECTS. 

After many disappointing delays, I was again at Ara- 
guary, the terminus of the railway, from which point I had 
traveled by horse into the state of Goyaz on the previous 
missionary journey. Here, I joined the Rev. Charles M. 
Morton of the Presbyterian Church, and Mr. Edward Searle, 
the field agent of the British and Foreign Bible Society, and 
together we set forth on a missionary journey through 
Southern Goyaz. We were accompanied as far as Santa Luzia 
by Mrs. Cowan of the Presbyterian mission, who went to open 
a school at Santa Luzia. This time the circumstances and 
conditions under which I traveled and evangelized were far 
more advantageous and congenial than when I rode forth from 
here on the first campaign. Moreover, I had now " smelled 
powder " and felt myself somewhat of a veteran. Every 

283 



Brazil 

member of our party was a missionary, for even our native 
cook and muleteer had become followers of Christ and as- 
sisted us in selling Bibles and at Gospel meetings. I bought 
a suitable riding horse for twenty-three dollars. We carried 
a complete camping outfit, besides which, and personal effects, 
we took a good supply of ammunition, — Bibles, Testaments 
and other Gospel literature. We took also two reserve mules 
with which to relieve a pack animal if one should be ex- 
hausted during forced marches. Our troop therefore numbered 
twelve mules and horses. 

We started on our campaign of love one bright afternoon 
during the last week in April, and rode until the shades of 
night began to gather. Then we found tucked away in the 
jungle, a grass roof standing on four posts, which we made 
our hotel for the night. As the cool, dry season was now 
setting in, I found my hammock too much of a fresh air bed ; 
but my companions slept upon light mattresses placed upon 
dry hides on the ground. 

The second day's march brought us to the Porto do 
Pedrao — Port Big Rock — at the margin of the pretty Par- 
anahyba, which we crossed into the great state of Goyaz. 
Our ferry was a catamaran made by building a platform upon 
four dugout canoes, and propelled by means of large oars. 

I discovered with dismay, soon after beginning our jour- 
ney, that the mule which carried my personal baggage, which 
included a photographic outfit, was a bolter, and occasionally 
furnished us no little excitement by a sudden dash off up the 
trail and away through the jungle, sowing broadcast my 
precious effects, and threatening their loss or destruction. 
One day, as our little missionary party was riding in ad- 
vance of the baggage train and passing through a narrow 
gash in a hill, the shout came suddenly from our men, " Get 
out of the way, quick, the mule is running amuck ! " We 
instantly put spurs to our horses and endeavored to get 
through the cut and out of the trail. In this we were all 
successful, except Mrs. Cowan, who, not being able to man- 
oeuvre her horse rapidly, had gotten only his head clear of 

284 



Brazil 

the path when the runaway mule, having sown to the wind 
all the smaller items of his burden and now carried nothing 
but my two trunks, dashed up and butted one of the trunks, 
battering-ram like, against the rear end of the horse; and with 
such force that, though the trunk weighed nearly one hun- 
dred pounds, it was swung into the air over the back of the 
mule and came down, strange to say, just beside the one on 
the opposite side, where it was held by its supports. But 
the weight being now all on one side, the animal was thrown 
so out of balance that the trunks were instantly, though very 
gently, deposited side by side in the road and disconnected 
from the pack-saddle. These runaway incidents often delayed 
our march for hours besides destroying breakable articles 
of baggage. 

It was with joy and satisfaction that I found myself 
again in the state of Goyaz and fully entered upon another 
missionary campaign. Though it may seem strange to the 
reader, I felt that I was again in " My ain countrie," and 
engaged in a work that has afforded me greater happiness 
than any I have ever engaged in. And if I could be there 
to-day going about among men with the message of God's 
love and mercy, my happiness would be complete. But, 
there is "no money," I am told; so I am far away from the 
land and work of my choice penning lines instead which 
perhaps few may care to read. 

While traveling by horse and mule train in the wilds of 
Brazil, I frequently had illustrated to me the real significance 
of the test used to determine which men were competent to 
follow Gideon to battle against the plundering Midianite 
invaders. What I saw cast a flood of light upon this incident, 
the meaning of which, it seems to me, has been so greatly 
misapprehended, and clothed it with new and deeply inter- 
esting meaning. I have heard sermons on this subject in 
which the preacher explained the meaning of the test by 
saying that the difference between the men who prostrated 
themselves at the edge of the stream, putting their mouths 
to the water to drink, and those who lapped the water — 

285 



Brazil 

scooped it up with the hand and tossed it into the mouth as 
they waded through — was that the former thought more of 
ease and were less earnest, energetic and devoted than the 
latter. I believe that this explanation is altogether erron- 
eous. The " fearful and trembling " ones having been elim- 
inated, there is no evidence whatever that the nine thousand 
seven hundred who were also rejected were not just as devoted 
to Gideon, and just as patriotic and eager to attack their 
merciless and powerful foe as the three hundred who were 
finally accepted. There was, nevertheless, a great and mo- 
mentous difference in the qualities and abilities of these 
two bodies of men, which, in the case of the latter, had taken 
years to develop, aside from the divine wish that Gideon 
should lead but a mere handful of men against the host of 
Midian. 

If, on beginning a journey by horse through the wilds 
of Brazil, one should hire two men as muleteers who should 
declare that they had had years of experience in traversing 
wildernesses, and possessed an intimate knowledge of every- 
thing pertaining to life and travel in these regions ; and while 
fording the first stream, one should see one of them get down 
on his face, contorting himself, at the edge to drink, while 
the other simply tossed the water into his mouth as he passed 
through, without pausing — literally drinking from the ends 
of his fingers — one would know instantly that the latter was 
a veteran guide who would render valuable service, but that 
the former was a " tenderfoot," or a stranger to the life we 
were following, and instead of being useful to one, would be 
a burden. The difference, therefore, between Gideon's three 
hundred and the rejected host is the difference between soldiers 
trained by years of actual participation in war and a mob, or 
raw recruits totally ignorant of everything pertaining to mili- 
tary service. The manner of drinking water from the brook re- 
vealed infallibly to which class each man belonged. 

My yellow Mexican saddle with its high pommel and light, 
wooden stirrups, attracted the notice of Brazilian horsemen. 
Being without padding, and having but one thickness of 

286 




A Typical Dwelling of Small Farmers. 



See Chapter xxvi. 



Brazil 

leather over the wooden tree, it was a puzzle to them, for it 
contradicted all their traditions regarding saddles. Looking 
it over, then running a hand under it, they would look at 
me in astonishment, saying, " Oh, sir, this saddle will kill 
your horse ! " " But I have already ridden the horse fifty 
miles, and his back is all right yet, is it not?" "Yes, but 
from now on, it will gall him to death." After I had 
ridden four or five hundred miles, they would examine both 
saddle and horse again, trying in vain to solve the mystery. 
Their saddles are broad, heavy and thickly padded, and they 
place under them a mass of blankets, so that in the high tem- 
perature, a horse's back is steamed until it becomes blistered 
and galled. One day, as I dismounted at a brook to drink, 
two boys came along on horseback. " Oh ! " they cried, 
" look at that saddle ! What a freak ! — And the crazy stir- 
rups ! And just look at the man's boots ! — Our Lady ! " Mr. 
Searle's hat also called forth exclamations everywhere. 

As might be expected, watches or clocks are rarely seen 
in these interior places, especially among the rural people; 
so they make the sun their clock. If a man about to begin 
a journey should be asked when he will start, and he should 
wish to say that he will leave the following morning about 
ten o'clock, he will flatten his hand, keeping the fingers close 
together, and stretch out his arm toward the point in the 
heavens where the sun will be when he departs, saying, " To- 
morrow, when the sun is there, I go." Frequently, too, when 
we ask a matuto — a jungle dweller — how far it is to a certain 
place, he does not inform us of the distance in miles or 
leagues, but indicates it as before by the relative position of 
the sun, saying, " To-morrow, when the sun is there, you 
are there." The people also designate certain hours before 
sunrise as the first or second cock-crowing. The popular 
measure of distance in Brazil is the league, which is six 
thousand meters, or about four English miles. It is very dis- 
piriting to the weary traveler to be informed, late some after- 
noon, after he has already ridden all day in the dust and heat, 
that he has still two or three leagues to make before he can 

287 



Brazil 

halt for the night. The figures are small, but the distance is 
great. 

The fourth day of our journey, a pack-mule sat down in 
the mud and water at a bad place in the trail, and when we got 
it out, the trunk contained something besides personal effects, 
much to its owner's dismay. The same day, two of us de- 
viated a long distance from the main road we were following 
in order to visit an old cattle grower who had embraced the 
Gospel. It gave us more than ordinary pleasure to see and talk 
with this man who was living the primitive patriarchal life 
in the wilds, and whose heart had been transformed by pon- 
dering the Word of God, and by the indwelling Christ who 
can change the meanest Jacob into an Israel, and the humblest 
abode into a Bethel. 

How wonderful and beautiful the world about us appeared 
as we rode this day, following a lofty range of hills, and en- 
joying the invigorating air and the charming sunlight! We 
could see stretching away from our lofty view-point an almost 
interminable vista of mountains and hills, valleys, table-lands, 
forests and jungles. It was a vast and magnificent cyclorama 
executed by the Divine Hand. We could not but be much 
impressed with the thought of the greatness and omnipotence 
of God. 

Returning to join our troop, we forded a stream where the 
water reached to the saddle, and we had to cross our legs on 
our horses' necks to clear it. It was now Saturday evening, 
and having failed to reach the village where we had planned 
to remain over Sunday, we turned aside and went into camp 
at Saint Michael's Brook where there was a cattle-ranch. The 
situation of the ranch house, which was better than the 
average, was charming. Besides cattle and oxen, the ranch- 
man had small coffee and orange groves. These were " de- 
vout " people, and the crests of neighboring hills were marked 
with big wooden crosses. But the filthy turkey buzzards, 
with more sense of utility than of the sacredness of things, 
find these lofty objects of religious regard splendid roosting 
places from which to command an unobstructed view of the 

288 



Brazil. 

surrounding world and keep a sharp lookout for anything of 
interest to them. Neither do the elements respect these 
sacred objects, for during storms, they serve as points of con- 
tact to relieve the electrically overcharged atmosphere, and 
some are split from apex to base. 

We saw here a characteristic institution of Brazil, which 
is seen everywhere in the rural districts — the monjolo, or 
Brazilian grist-mill — which is operated by water. These 
country people possess some engineering skill. As elsewhere 
mentioned, their dwellings are always near the water courses ; 
and to get the water to drive the rude mill, a small trench 
for a mill-race is dug around the hillside and the stream 
tapped far enough above to get a fall of four or five feet near 
the dwelling. Here a samson post is planted and upon it a 
beam twenty-two feet long is balanced horizontally and made 
fast. Morticed into one end of this beam is a heavy pestle 
which is made to strike into a large, wooden mortar sunk 
into the ground ; while a cavity is made in the other extremity 
of this walking beam large enough to contain two or three 
pails of water. Into this trough the water pours from the 
mill race; and when full, the beam is over-balanced and the 
pestle raised, then the water flows out because of the inclined 
position of the beam and the pestle descends into the mortar 
with a sullen chug and gradually pulverizes the corn placed 
therein. This is not a " seven thousand barrel mill," for the 
pestle makes but three strokes each minute. The mortar end 
of the contrivance is usually enclosed in a small, thatched 
shed to protect the grist from the domestic animals and from 
the elements. The perpetual flow and splash of the water as 
it fills the teetering trough, and dumps, the creak and groan 
of the walking-beam as it rocks on the post, and the monoto- 
nous, three-times-a-minute chug, chuf of the pestle as it 
plunges, like the beak of a giant crane, into the peck of swollen 
corn, are the sounds which disturb the stillness of the night 
at many ranches. 

Corn meal only is made in these primitive mills. The 
whole process of manufacture is first to soak the corn in 

19 289 



Brazil 

water a day or two, hull it, then crush it in the monjolo; 
and finally, the moist meal is kiln-dried by spreading thin 
layers of it over a sort of gigantic griddle, under which 
is a slow fire, and hoeing it about with a wooden hoe. 
This big, rustic griddle, or evaporator, is built of clay uport 
the ground, and resembles a broad ant-hill or Esquimau 
dwelling. It is hollow, and the flat top, or griddle part, is 
made of wooden rods, clay and a cement of cattle excrement. 

Numerous families living in the interior of Brazil are pre- 
pared to live almost entirely within themselves — to supply 
all their own needs. They cultivate a little cotton and make 
with it all the clothing of the family — trousers, shirts and 
skirts. The manufacture of this home-made cloth is accom- 
plished with a vast amount of labor. The seeds are removed 
by hand; then the cotton is placed upon an ox-hide on the 
earthen floor of the dwelling, and beaten with two wooden rods 
until it becomes a single fluffy mass. It is next carded, also 
by hand, by pulling it out into rolls as large around as one's 
finger, then twisted a little and wound on a spindle. It 
is now spun by means of a primitive device similar to that used 
in the time of Christ, and such, perhaps, as Sarah, the wife 
of Abraham, used, and wound into balls. Finally, the yarn 
is woven, in a home-made loom, into coarse but very strong 
cloth and made into garments. The entire operation, from 
beginning to end, is performed by the women. 

Cow-hides are tanned and the leather used to make saddles, 
and sandals. With deer-skin leather, the men make for them- 
selves heavy, broad-brimmed hats, which they much admire, 
also trousers and coats with which to traverse the jungle. Each 
family raises all the tobacco needed for its own use; and all 
the food material, including beef, pork, fowls, rice, beans, 
corn, manioc and a few other vegetables, and also coffee, 
oranges, bananas and lemons. Every family having cattle, 
makes a primitive cheese in two-pound cakes, but never any 
butter. Their buildings are constructed entirely of material 
brought from the near-by forest, and cost nothing but labor. 
The only thing in the cook-room corresponding to a stove is 

290 



t^'V, ■\^mM 






^^ t ^ m> ' 


iM^^I 




. 1 


' ? 1 ' 




1 "* « 

f 1 


..." ■ ■>'/)-/'- r V ... -'- 


m 



A Monjolo, the National Grist-mill of Brazil. 




Hauling Sugar Cane to the Distillery. The cane-field is in the background. 

See Chapter xxvi. 



Brazil. 

an oblong block of clay, three feet high, built upon the ground, 
and containing a narrow chamber through which the heat 
pours from the fire-place at the larger end, and having ad- 
justed over the top a cast-iron plate of about the shape and 
dimensions of a small coffin lid. This plate contains large and 
small holes for the pots. There is no oven connected with 
this stove, and no flue, the smoke being allowed to pour into 
the room and filter through the roof, and incidentally, to fill 
the eyes of the people. Outside the large cities and towns, 
few dwellings have even this semblance of a stove, there being 
nothing but a camp-fire. The better classes in the cities have 
stoves and ranges ; but even here the primitive method of 
cooking still prevails in multitudes of dwellings. 

The few vessels and utensils found in rural kitchens are 
largely of wood, calabash and other nature-made articles. 
About the only imported articles used by these simple dwellers 
of the far interior, are iron pots and spoons, granite-ware, 
or tin, plates, axes, grubbing hoes, knives, needles and cheap 
shotguns ; while salt is the only article of their food that they 
do not produce themselves. Print goods, however, are now 
found everywhere in the interior, except among the savages. 
The chief exports are cattle and tobacco, which easily exceed 
the imports. 

Sugar-cane is grown, and sugar and syrup made ; and also 
rum, unfortunately, with the result that many of these people 
" raise cane " in more than one sense. Every part of the 
rude contrivance used in the manufacture of rum, and of sugar, 
is home-made, except the worm — retort — and the demijohns. 
To press the juice from the cane, three ponderous, iron-like, 
wooden cylinders are mounted in a vertical position, side by 
side, connected by wooden gearing at the top and bottom ; 
and to the middle cylinder is attached a huge sweep, or arm, 
to the outer extremity of which a yoke of oxen is hitched. 
The cane is fed back and forth between these cylinders until 
the sap is squeezed out, which runs into roughly-hewn wooden 
troughs where it is allowed to ferment, and where a green 
scum gathers upon it while fermenting and other filth accumu- 

291 



Brazil 

lates in the troughs. The entire plant is set up under an im- 
mense shed of thatch where operations are not interfered 
with by the weather. 

This sugar-cane, rum called cachaca, pinga, or aguardente — r 
ardent water — is very strong, being forty to eighty per cent, 
alcohol. It is the great national beverage of Brazil, and its 
use is almost universal. Wherever so-called civilized men 
are found in Brazil, there also is found the demijohn as his 
bosom companion. It seems the very essence of irony to 
call rum, and rum manufacture, an adjunct of civilization. 
It is said that " Tobacco is heathenism's contribution to 
Christian civilization." If so, then rum must be the contribu- 
tion of the Prince of Darkness. It is the very antithesis of 
civilization. It is anarchy, dissolution and damnation. 
Spirituous liquors and Christianity are deadly foes, and no 
more companions than are anacondas and deer, wolves and 
sheep, Asiatic cholera and men. Alcoholic drinks are a 
deadly parasite upon any civilization. 

In every rural community in Brazil exists one or more 
rude distilleries laboring industriously to produce the annual 
stupendous drink offering for Saint Bacchus. In one rural 
district I visited, five of these distilleries were working within 
a radius of a mile or two. Consequently, this powerful rum 
is under the eye of the people everywhere, beckoning them to 
destruction; and no one can get far away from one of these 
" hell's kitchens," — the distillery — unless he should go into 
the savage world. There is sacrificed every year in South 
America to Saint Bacchus on his altar of whole burnt offer- 
ings, their careers ruined and cut off and their souls damned, 
scores of thousands of human beings who have " presented 
their bodies a living sacrifice " to him and been filled with 
his spirit. These self-made idiots, the alcoholized ones, are 
seen everywhere. 

One morning, while at St. Michael's Brook, I thought to 
pass a quiet, enjoyable hour sitting on a big rock by the 
brook where it flowed through the woods, in order to read 
and write undisturbed, and to commune with God who mani- 



292 



Brazil 

fests Himself as truly to the humble worshipper in the wilder- 
ness as to one in the most stately cathedral. But I soon found 
that animate Nature forbade that I should pass a pleasant 
hour here, and threatened to impose upon me a severe pen- 
ance that would last several days. 

The worst pest of the dry season in the cattle regions is 
a small, reddish insect called a carapatinha, which is elsewhere 
mentioned in this work. It is troublesome only in the rain- 
less season; and as this was the first time I had traveled by 
horse during these months, it was my first experience with 
these insects. Ignorant of their ways, I was soon covered 
with them from head to feet, and my skin filled with hundreds 
of poisonous bites which kept me on fire for days. Not hav- 
ing the proper antidote, I had virtually to bathe in tobacco 
water to neutralize the venom. Cattle and horses suffer 
greatly from these and other insects. Even the wild beasts 
are tormented by them. I saw, once, clinging to the skin of 
a tapir that had just been shot, hundreds, and perhaps thou- 
sands of carapatos nearly as large as brown beans. 

Insects doubtless kill more cattle each year in Brazil than 
either venomous reptiles or wild beasts. Certain flies bore 
through the skin of the afflicted animal and deposit their 
eggs; and when the grub, which is not very harmful in itself, 
matures and comes out, other species of flies make their de- 
posits in the openings, and soon there are seething masses of 
larvae that quickly eat into the poor creature's vitals, unless 
their progress is promptly arrested by the hand of man. Any 
wound, however slight, that the animal may receive while 
roaming through the bushes, is quickly taken advantage of 
by these destructive flies. The cattle are terribly afflicted by 
these pests in some localities. I have seen cattle driven to 
market the backs and shoulders of which were covered with 
horrid sores due to this cause. 



293 



Chapter XXVII. 

THE BIBLE AND THE PEOPLE. 

Departing from St. Michael's Brook, we crossed a stream 
where the water rose nearly to the saddle seats — so high, in- 
deed, that two of our party dismounted and walked over 
on a primitive suspension bridge, which was a slender tree 
that had been felled across the stream. As for the baggage, 
the muleteers slipped quickly out of their two garments and 
carried it over on their shoulders, to which height the water 
did not quite reach. 

We turned aside from the trail here and there to visit 
dwellings in the jungle and offer the people the Bible. But 
our offer was many times politely declined, the reasons (?) 
most frequently given for not taking a copy being, " We do 
not know how to read," or " We have no money." Not in- 
frequently, these were mere excuses, for men in all ages and 
lands since Mother Eve, have been notorious excuse makers. 
It is true, nevertheless, that, in rural districts especially, few 
persons are able to read ; and in some communities, not even 
one individual. Moreover, money is often scarce. But the 
persons offering these excuses, did so, many times, because 
they feared to have the Book in their possession. But when 
excuses were made, whether well founded or not, we would, 
if possible, read to the family a passage from the Bible which 
we thought might interest them. We would inquire, " Is there 
not even one person in this house that can read ? " " No," 
would be the reply, " not one." " Well, can any one in that 

294 




The Town of Ouro Preito — Black Gold — in the State of Mimas Geraes. 




Nova Friburgo, near Rio de Janeiro, where the Presbyterians have a Mission. 



Brazil 

house yonder read? " " No, and no one anywhere around here 
can read." Expressing regrets, we would then read to them 
from the New Testament, giving the meaning of the words 
as we read. 

It is often delightfully interesting to observe how the 
wonderful words of Christ appeal to these people. Their 
eyes brighten and a satisfied smile spreads over their faces 
as they exclaim, " What a beautiful story ! " The human soul 
can not but respond in some degree to a communication from 
God, the Supreme Soul, even though the Light is not always 
followed. The attraction of earth is a powerful and subtle 
force ; moreover, the people are in terror of the thunderbolts 
of anathema of their Jove-like priests. Nevertheless, the 
Message of God, heard for the first time, and from the lips 
of a devoted, enthusiastic evangelist, cannot fail to affect 
them strangely, for the human heart is ever reaching out, 
though often blindly, toward God with peculiar longings that 
cannot be satisfied apart from God, the loving parent Heart, 
much as a plant in a cellar seeks the light of day. At length, 
the family becomes so much interested that they are eager to 
possess the Book that contains the soul-charming story they 
have just heard, and one says, " No one about here can read, 
it is true, but our friend, Mr. Fulano, who lives ten leagues 
from here, can read. So we will get the Book, and some day 
when he comes here we will have him read it to us." They se- 
cure then a copy of the precious volume and eagerly await the 
coming of Fulano. Some day, within a few weeks, he emerges 
suddenly from a neck of woods, mounted on a mule, probably, 
clad in a deer-skin hat, trousers and coat, bare-footed and 
having big spurs fastened to his heels, great toes, only, in 
the stirrups, a knife two feet in length hanging from his belt 
in a leather scabbard, on one side, while a muzzle-loading 
horse-pistol, two feet long, firing shot, hangs from the other 
side, a partly smoked corn-husk cigarette tucked under his hat- 
band or behind his ear, and a big coil of rawhide lariat cover- 
ing his animal's rump. 

Riding up to a hitching-post in front of the house, he 

295 



Brazil 

tosses the reins over it, tips himself from his beast, and goes 
clank, clank, into the house. Cordial greetings are exchanged 
with the family and he is given a seat upon a high stool with 
a rawhide top. Corn-husk cigarettes are now passed around, 
or one cigarette, only, may be handed from one to another 
to smoke ; or else the visitor may take the partly smoked 
cigarette from behind his ear and say to one of the little chil- 
dren, " Mary, take this to the kitchen and light it for me." 
Mary goes to the cook-house with it, takes up a fire-brand, or 
a live coal in an iron spoon, from the camp-fire, lights the ciga- 
rette, and smoking it as she returns, hands it to the visitor. At 
the same time the host orders a tray of coffee, which they all 
sip while chatting. At length, some one breaks into the ani- 
mated conversation with, " O, Mr. Fulano, we have a book of 
beautiful stories that we want you to read to us." Mr. Fulano 
complies gladly, for he is proud of his ability to read, as well 
he may be. It gives him distinction and superiority in his 
world, for where all men are blind, a man with even partial 
sight is king. He may not be able to read very well, and 
may stumble along trying to decipher the words, and be so 
occupied doing this that he does not understand much himself 
of what he is reading ; but the family, having nothing to do but 
to listen, takes in somewhat the significance of the words. 

In distributing Bibles in villages and towns where an evil 
report has preceded us and many people are in terror of us 
because they have been solemnly informed that we are 
Satan's sub-delegates, it is very interesting to watch the change 
that comes over the faces of these superstitious, untutored 
men and women when they hear from the sacred volume, some 
sweet, soul-stirring passage. Having applied at the door of 
a house for admission, we are respectfully invited in and 
given a scat ; for though the inmates are in a fever of anxiety 
because of us, yet they will rarely treat us other than with 
politeness and respect. These two qualities mark all their 
dealings with one another and with strangers, and are promi- 
nent and admirable traits of character among the Brazilian 
people. Even those living in the most remote regions and 

296 



Brazil. 

most deeply buried in the jungle, possess these qualities to 
a remarkable degree. After a brief salutation, we make known 
the object of our visit, but our hosts decline in a hasty, ex- 
cited manner to take a Bible; and when we offer to read a 
message of God to them their agitation increases and they 
sometimes seek to slip quietly out of the room. Neverthe- 
less, when they hear the soul-enrapturing words of the all- 
loving Saviour that the world can never grow weary of hear- 
ing, and that are to the hungry, burdened soul like a cool, 
sparkling spring in a burning desert to a traveler dying of 
thirst — " God so loved the world, that He gave His only begot- 
ten Son, that whosoever believeth in Him should not perish, 
but have eternal life ; " or, " Come unto me all ye that labor 
and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest. ***** 
and ye shall find rest unto your souls ; " they are astonished and 
confused. Their priests have taught them that this Book 
is the essence of evil, yet it proves to be instead the very 
honey of heaven. — And as to these men whom they were told 
are Satan in disguise, how can they really be wicked and yet 
going about with such a divine Book? So their fears subside 
and they become cordial toward us and get a copy of the Book. 

I have sometimes said to persons who refused a copy of 
the Bible, " You have just attended a festival to venerate 
Saint Peter. How is it that you refuse to listen to the words 
of Saint Peter f " Or, " I see that you have a picture of Saint 
John on a pole here in front of your house. How is it that you 
adore Saint John, and yet you despise his words ? " They seem 
unable to reply to these queries, and quietly possess them- 
selves of the sacred Volume. 

Sometimes a boy, sent indirectly by the priest, visits us 
to look over our stock of Bibles, pretending that he wishes 
to buy one ; then, when unobserved, he quickly hides a volume 
in his clothes, and soon withdraws. He purposes to deliver 
the precious volume to his priest to be destroyed, receiving 
in exchange a worthless bit of pasteboard bearing a picture 
of a " holy one." But he goes to his own home first on his 
way to the priest, and shows the book to his mother, who, 

297 



Brazil 

a true daughter of Eve, hankers after the forbidden fruity and 
wishes to see what manner of Book this is that the priest 
says is so vile. Despite all her fears and prejudice, she be- 
comes strangely interested in reading it, and says to her boy, 
" Do not take the book to the priest just now, Esau ; wait 
until sunset." At sunset, she says, " Wait until to-morrow, 
my son." Thus the delivery of the book is deferred from time 
to time with the result that the priest never gets it ; for the 
woman has become so deeply interested that she will not part 
with it. 

When the priest, or his Jackal, visits the people to 
gather up and destroy the Bibles we have distributed, those 
who have become interested in reading the Book, say to him : 
" No, no, we haven't that accursed book in the house. Yes, 
the man called here and left one, but we threw it in the fire." 
At the same time, the Book is securely hidden away, as they 
value it too highly to part with it. 

We passed the following night in an immense shed occu- 
pied by a cattle grower and his family. They lived in one 
corner, which they had fenced off, and the remainder of the 
space was used to store farm produce and implements, and 
as a workshop and barn-yard. Our visit was a very unusual 
event in the isolated life of this family. During the evening, 
we sang Gospel hymns, read and commented upon the Scrip- 
tures, had prayer, and chatted pleasantly with the family re- 
garding the Gospel, all which seemed to afford them pleasure. 

We reached the little village of Entra Rios the next day 
after riding twenty-five miles. Owing to our heavy baggage, 
we traveled less than four miles an hour, and were therefore 
about seven hours continuously in the saddle. A heavy rain 
was falling — the last of the season — for which we were not 
prepared ; and when we arrived at our destination, drenched, 
boots filled with water, mud bespattered, shivering and hun- 
gry, and sought to steal, unobserved, down the long, lane- 
like street of the village, everything living here, seemingly, 
man and beast, came out to watch us march past. Our pro- 
cession was anything but triumphal. What a remarkable 

298 



Brazil. 

street this was, too, that we paraded in! It was more like 
a creek, or a broad ditch, than a street. It lay along the side 
of a hill, and small wooden troughs, sunk partially in the 
sand, crossed it at intervals of a few feet to carry off the 
water. It was also full of holes and littered with garbage ; 
and to complete the picture, a large drove of hogs was wal- 
lowing in it. No street work is really ever done in such a 
village. Rarely a shovelful of earth is ever moved; and per- 
haps a shovel is never seen here. 

We made for the hotel on the edge of the village. It was 
merely an open shed ; and arriving, we found a full house — 
cattle, hogs, mules, goats and other creatures having taken 
shelter in it because of the rain. The prospect was dismal 
for travelers in our condition ; but we ejected all these guests, 
then cleaned house, for the place was virtually a pigsty. 
Darkness coming on, we ate our frugal supper sitting on our 
boxes, then made ourselves as comfortable for the night as 
circumstances permitted. 

We occupied the whole of the following day going from 
house to house, talking with the people and offering them 
the Bible, and were treated with respect everywhere. With 
few exceptions, we found the people very poor. We heard that 
a soldier went about the village seeking to raise eight cents 
with which to secure a Testament from us ; so also did a little 
girl. Had we seen the child, we would have given her a copy. 

At nightfall, we held a Gospel meeting in a private house 
which was much the largest dwelling in the village, and which 
the occupants rented at two dollars per month. Mr. Morton 
preached from the text, " As we have said before, so I say 
now again, if any man preach unto you any Gospel, other than 
that which ye received, let him be anathema." The attend- 
ance was not large. All present appeared to much enjoy the 
singing by our party of the soulful Gospel hymns. Our cook 
and muleteer, who had learned to sing these hymns, helped 
us, thus adding to their usefulness. 

Nearly all the Gospel hymns used in Brazil are translations, 
and are the same as those used everywhere in the English 

299 



Brazil 

speaking world; and indeed, in every evangelized part of the 
earth; and among all peoples they are a never-failing source 
of joy, comfort and inspiration. This is because they are the 
language, and express the sentiments of the soul, somewhat 
as do the Psalms. Congregational singing is unknown in 
the worship of non-Christian assemblies. Only the Word 
of God — the story of God's love — can fill the human heart 
with song. Priests and choirs, alone, furnish the doleful 
music of non-Christian temples. This music is unintelligible 
to the congregation who remain always mute as " dumb dogs " 
and dejectedly kneel, stand, and execute like automatons 
various motions and make passes at the behests of their 
masters, the priests. Even Christian congregations that have 
grown cold, and among whom the Spirit of the Gospel and 
of Christ ebbs low, cease to sing, and delegate the music 
to hired choirs and great musical machines, while they, them- 
selves, remain as dumb and indifferent as a mule with droop- 
ing ears and sleepy eyes tied to an iron post. Only those 
people who have responded heartily to the loving command 
of God, " Let the word of Christ dwell in you richly," have 
the privilege and joy of obeying the further injunction of, 
" Speaking one to another in psalms and hymns and spiritual 
songs, singing and making melody to the Lord." 

Mr. Morton had an amusing experience just before we 
reached the village of Entra Rios. His nose was badly sun- 
burned ; and in this condition, he turned aside from the trail 
to visit a ranch house and sell a Bible. The man he ad- 
dressed contemplated him a moment, then said, " Don't you 
wish to buy some rum? " " No, thank you," said Mr. Morton, 
" I do not drink." " You buy my rum," said the man, " and 
I will buy your book." 

We moved on again the second morning, traveling with- 
out unusual incident except that a fine deer ran within a few 
yards of us, and we passed the night in our tents. The third 
day, we reached the river Corumba at a place called the 
Porto da Dona Eulalia, and men, beasts and baggage were 
ferried across the river on a catamaran. Afterward, the ferry- 

300 



Brazil 

man invited us to his house and kindly treated us to excellent 
coffee, manioc cakes and oranges. Continuing our march, we 
camped at night in and around a big ox-cart at a ranch, pass- 
ing a night of short naps, for there was " something doing " 
every hour. The cart had been used to transport salt, and a 
herd of cattle seemed determined to lick it until it was con- 
sumed, and incidentally, they tried to lick away our baggage ; 
so one or another of us had to drive them off momentarily 
throughout the night. Besides the cattle, there were hungry 
pigs and several famished dogs to be reckoned with. There 
are always many dogs about every Brazilian ranch, which 
appear to be in the last stages of starvation, and consequently, 
relentless thieves. 

The next day, Saturday, was a very trying day to us. 
It was important that we spend Sunday at the village of 
Capella, and to do this, we had to travel over forty miles on 
Saturday with our heavy baggage train. We began our march 
at eight o'clock in the morning, and did not halt for rest and 
refreshments until three in the afternoon. — In fact, we 
could not halt until this hour as our route led across a broad 
table-land that seemed to go on and on interminably without 
offering any descent to a brook where we could obtain water. 
Moreover, we strayed from the trail once or twice during 
the day, which delayed us seriously. Night finally overtook 
us, and two of our pack animals became so exhausted that 
their loads had to be shifted to the reserves. During the 
early part of the day, which was delightful, with a strong 
tinge of Indian summer, we traversed a picturesque region 
where the soil was rich and the vegetation luxuriant, and 
where we passed through charming woodlands and by beau- 
tiful brooks of delicious water. We were eleven hours in the 
saddle, and did not reach our destination until nine o'clock at 
night. A profound silence reigned about us, while the moon 
bathed the land in a flood of soft, exquisite radiance; and as 
we gradually descended the long slope at the foot of which 
nestled the cluster of white buildings, now glorified by the 
moonlight, we seemed to be journeying in an enchanted land 

301 



Brazil 

and approaching a fairy city. Nearing the village, Mr. Mor- 
ton hastened forward in advance of our cavalcade, and when 
we arrived he had already secured a vacant house in which 
we camped until Monday. It was a rude structure, but su- 
perior to the one we occupied at Entra Rios. 

We passed a busy Sunday. Many persons came to visit 
us, a few of whom, perhaps, came out of curiosity; but many 
seemed really much interested in the Gospel. Besides talking 
with the people individually all day and evening, we con- 
ducted two preaching services in the large room of our im- 
provised hotel — one at noon and the other in the evening. 
Thirty persons were present at the noon meeting and seventy 
at the later one. We were told that the Gospel had been 
preached here but twice before our visit. 

There were at least two men who appeared to have ac- 
cepted the Gospel and wished to be received into the Church. 
But Mr. Morton hesitated to receive them for the reason that 
both were living with women to whom they were not legally 
married. One of them, unfortunately, was unable to make 
matters right by marrying his friend, as these cohabitants 
are called, for he already had a legal wife ; but she had de- 
serted him years before, and had disappeared, and Brazil has 
no divorce law. The law permits tens of thousands of couples 
to live together, illegally, and rear families, but in multi- 
tudes of cases, will not suffer them to become lawfully mar- 
ried. The man just mentioned appealed to our sympathy. 
He desired to do right, now that he had accepted Christ as 
his Saviour; but the law would not allow him to marry the 
woman with whom he lived, nor give him a divorce from the 
one who had deserted him. Neither could he leave the second 
woman without doing her a grave wrong. A third man wished 
to make a public profession of his new-found faith, but his 
wife opposed it. 

A Romish procession was formed in the village Sunday 
morning, and carrying at its head a banner stamped with a 
sacred picture, marched out to a large cross that stood on a 

302 



Brazil 

hillside, half a mile distant, around which all the people 
knelt and recited prayers in moaning voices. 

Resuming our journey Monday, we passed the following 
night at a ranch called Firmness, the proprietor of which 
declined a Bible saying that he feared it would " shake his 
faith " — superstition ; and the next day we reached the pretty 
little river Parakanjuba, which we crossed in a dugout canoe 
with our baggage, and swam our horses over. Two of our 
pack mules ran down into the river as we approached it, and 
for a moment were in danger of drowning with their loads. 

While we were preparing to continue our march after 
crossing this river, Mr. Morton went in advance and turned 
aside from the trail to buy corn for our beasts. But at the 
ranch he visited, he was treated so hospitably, and became so 
absorbed talking with the family concerning the Gospel, that 
he quite forgot the rest of us and left us to wander onto a 
wrong trail for only he knew which road we should take. 
We camped for the night at Saint Bento's Brook, which was 
difficult and dangerous to ford because the banks were so high 
and steep. A Negro living near, with his family, none of 
whom could read, secured a Testament from us and some 
writing material, saying that he was going to learn to read. 

Journeying the next morning, we met a man whom we in- 
vited to attend a Gospel meeting which we were to conduct 
at a ranch several miles distant. But he refused, saying, " I 
prefer to continue to live according to the law of the most 
ancient ones." We said to him, " perhaps you do not know 
that the ancients were cannibals who roasted and devoured 
one another. You do not wish to be like them, do you? 
Many of the ancients, however, forsook the law of their fathers 
to follow Christ." 



303 



Chapter XXVIII. 

TRIUMPHS OF THE EVANGEL.— JUNGLE 

CHURCHES.— PRIMITIVE WORSHIP.— 

NEGLECTED FIELDS. 

After traversing a broad stretch of splendid, open and 
well-watered pasture land, we arrived at noon at the Bom 
Jardim — Good Flower Garden — cattle ranch, the proprietor of 
which, besides rearing cattle, kept a few articles for barter 
in a dungeon-like storeroom, which he gave in exchange for 
mongdba — rubber — and hides. His wife was already a pro- 
fessing Christian, while he himself was reading the New 
Testament and seemed nearly ready to accept Christ. We 
passed a pleasant half-hour visiting with these kind friends and 
enjoying their generous hospitality. The same day, after fol- 
lowing a very rough trail and descending a mountain that 
was so precipitous that our beasts had almost to sit down and 
toboggan, our cavalcade arrived suddenly and unannounced, 
about dark, at a little ranch hidden away in the jungle, where 
lived an elder of the Church we were about to visit. It was 
a rude dwelling indeed that we found here at this remote spot 
in the wilds of Goyaz. But the family, though poor in material 
things, was rich spiritually, and of noble character, for they 
had drunk deep at the Fountain of living waters. Their simple 
trust and confidence in God was beautiful to behold. Though 
they felt themselves wholly unprepared for such distinguished 
visitors as they considered us, yet they received us with 
ardent cordiality, believing themselves highly honored by our 

304 




The Baptist Church and Church Edifice at Sao Fidelis. 











1 •- ■ 




I ifll 


; ■■; ■ .M : : , . 








'■'^■r^ESf 


ri! 


I 


4 tV'-"- "^iif * 


< " *»' •■ ;. * 




" : ^S6 '* 5% 














HP?5^sr. dCN 




i 












MtSBt 




1 * 


1 


. iVwHnHi 


1 



The Rev. A. E. Nelson Baptizing in the Amazon River. 



Brazil 

visit. They had so little food to set before us that we had to 
draw upon our own bin. It was late in the evening, and 
twelve hours after we had breakfasted, that dinner was an- 
nounced. A towel had been spread over a ponderous wooden 
bench, ordinarily used as a seat, and our food, a typical Bra- 
zilian dinner, was placed upon it. Around this we sat upon 
boxes and rude stools, holding our plates in our hands as 
there was no room for them on the bench. The reader may 
think this was anything but an inviting feast, but I confess 
that I enjoyed it as much as any dinner I have ever eaten. 
We had grown accustomed to this kind of food and this style 
of service, and our appetites were excellent. Better, the 
Spirit of Christ reigned here, and " Better is a dinner of herbs 
where love is than a stalled ox and contention therewith." 
The family stood leaning here and there against the walls 
regarding us while we ate. That night they raided the hen- 
roost, robbed the calves of their suppers, and fried and stewed 
until past midnight in order to set before us in the morning 
the best breakfast they could possibly prepare. As the house 
was too small to accommodate our entire party, I swung my 
hammock for the night in the corn-crib above the pig-pen. In 
the morning, our presence at this place having become known, 
many persons assembled from neighboring ranches, a short 
preaching service was held and a few children were baptized, 
after which, we breakfasted. 

I shall always cherish the happiest memories of this visit. 
It was a beautiful morning in this delightful land of perpetual 
summer. The glorious effulgence of the sun affected us 
with a peculiarly delicious charm as it was diffused through 
the soft haze that hung over the land like a benediction. 
Best of all, the glorious Son of Righteousness was shining upon 
the little company assembled here in this rude, uncultured 
place, thrilling each heart with joy. We felt like saying, 
" Surely God is in this place." When the divine Presence 
fills the soul, one's happiness is complete, and everything 
about him seems strangely beautiful and lovely. " We will 
bless the Lord from this time forth and for evermore." Our 

20 305 



Brazil 

visit to this humble Christian family was doubtless a supreme 
event in their history — a golden milestone. 

A ride of fifteen miles brought us to the Retiro Ranch, 
which was the fixed meeting place of one of the churches 
we had come to visit. Here, also, we were received with the 
utmost Christian cordiality. None of the three or four Chris- 
tian congregations of this region had a church edifice, but 
each assembled regularly at a family residence, as was done 
in the days of the primitive church. 

The story of the origin of these churches is very interest- 
ing. It is a remarkable and beautiful instance of the power 
of the Word of God alone to bring about great changes in a 
community, and a striking comment upon the words, " The 
entrance of thy word giveth light, it giveth understanding 
to the simple," or " the Gospel * * is the power — dynamite 
— of God unto salvation," and, " Transformed by the renewing 
of the mind." 

A brutal Spanish sailor was wonderfully converted and 
transformed by the Gospel of Christ. Loving ardently his 
Saviour, he longed to engage in some distinctively Christian 
service; so, in Brazil, he engaged as a colporteur for the 
British and Foreign Bible Society, and penetrated, in time, 
to the borders of the state of Goyaz. Here, at some village, 
the patriarchal owner of the ranch at which we were now 
staying, who was traveling far from home, chanced to meet 
him, and listened to him with rapt attention as he told the 
story of his conversion, and read from the Book that had been 
the means of bringing about the great change in his life. Pro- 
foundly impressed, the patriarch apparently accepted Christ 
as his Saviour at once, and dedicated himself, whole-heartedly, 
to His service. Returning to his distant home, he carried with 
him a number of Bibles and Testaments obtained from the 
colporteur. These he gave to his children and grandchildren 
— he had fourteen children and forty-four grandchildren at 
the time of our visit — and to his brothers and their children 
and grandchildren, saying to them, in brief, " This is the true, 
inviolate Law of the God of Heaven. It is not something that 

306 



Brazil. 

priests or other men have gotten up. Read and ponder it, 
and do just what it teaches you." These men received the 
precious volume reverently, and began to read or to listen to 
it read with close attention. Light began to dawn upon their 
darkened minds, and turning away from the priest and his 
teaching, they assembled regularly at the home of one or an- 
other to hear the " New Law " read and taught, and to worship 
God in spirit and in truth as it directed them. In time, they 
organized a New Testament church. No missionary, or any 
regular minister of the Gospel has even been stationed among 
them ; and only in more recent years has one visited among 
them for a few days at intervals of a year or more. Yet meet- 
ings are held every week, and the elders, acting as pastors, 
conduct the services, pray, read God's message and explain it 
to the congregation as best they can. Therefore, this particu- 
lar region is probably as thoroughly evangelized to-day, and 
as large a proportion of the people are followers of Christ 
as in any similar region in the world. 

The Bible has proved many times to be a teacher in itself. 
The story is told of a young Brazilian who found a Bible some- 
where, left by a missionary ; and much impressed that it was 
God's Word, took it to his priest and asked permission to 
compare it with the one in the temple. The priest said to 
him that there was such a book lying in the vestry some- 
where, which he might read if he could find it, but no good 
would result. Undaunted, the young man compared the two 
books, word for word, and became satisfied at once that the 
Book he had found was the genuine Word of God. Therefore, 
he and his friends began to read and study it with the result 
that they soon organized themselves into a church, taking the 
New Testament as their guide. A second church has already 
grown out of the first one, and others, doubtless, will follow, 
for having responded to the Gospel call, these people are car- 
rying the good news of salvation to other communities. 

Continuing our narrative : How hungry for the Bread of 
Life were these simple people who had assembled at the Re- 
tiro Ranch! And what a remarkable knowledge of God's 

307 



Brazil. 

holy Word many of them possessed, though they had nothing 
but the Book itself, without note or comment! They re- 
ceived it in its simplicity, and sought to practice its precepts 
in their daily lives, believing that every word meant just 
what it clearly stated, for they had not heard of our " higher 
criticism," and of our many doubts and difficulties. The 
elder of this primitive church whom we met first, detained 
me under an orange tree several hours one morning while 
he plied me with questions concerning the wonderful " New 
Law " which had proved more precious to him than rubies. 
Words fail to express how this pearl of great price had en- 
riched and gladdened the lives of these people filling their 
hearts with endless sunshine. " The path of the just is as the 
shining light." Truly, the Word of Him who said, " Let there 
be light," is a marvelous dynamic, and causes mighty changes 
in individuals and communities. What a joy it was to us 
to pass a brief season with these earnest, whole-hearted 
Christians who had received us so affectionately and honored 
us with an absolute confidence, and a respect bordering on 
reverence, after being among those misguided people who 
behaved toward us with suspicion and hostility. 

These dear followers of Christ began to assemble at the 
ranch soon after our appearance. They came, apparently, 
from the four winds and in surprising numbers, reminding 
one of the assembling of the country folk in North America 
on circus day. They came mounted or on foot. Sometimes 
a father, or a mother, and three or four children rode upon 
one beast, while the remaining members of the family 
trudged behind on foot. Again, a man appeared sitting in the 
saddle and holding a child in front of him, while his " spare 
rib," as they often call their wives, was mounted behind him 
holding an infant in her arms. As they arrived, the women, 
girls and small children crowded into the cook-room and the 
rear of the dwelling, while the men filled the large front room 
and the front yard. They appeared in such numbers that the 
corn-crib, the sugar-making shed and other out-buildings, were 
filled with hammocks and rude beds. Even the houses of 



308 



Brazil. 

the nearest neighbors were filled. They came, not to remain 
an hour or two, only, but two or three days. All the children 
came as well as their elders, one couple bringing eleven. 
Unfortunately, the dogs, like Satan, came also, and in alarming 
numbers, for every family had several; and they indulged 
frequently in fights in which all made free to participate. 
Moreover, they were not at all particular about the location 
of their battle-field, and sometimes the clash of hostile forces 
occurred in the principal room of the house where the church 
services were held, and even when services were in progress. 
A bone thrown down by a child that had been " piecing " on 
it was sure to precipitate a canine uproar. 

Another prolific source of disturbance and interruption 
during meeting hours was, that during the cool season of the 
year, which was the time our visit occurred, the children suf- 
fer very generally from colds, as the nights are often chilly 
while the days are very warm ; and as they are thinly clad and 
their dwellings very open, they are not prepared for even small 
changes in temperature. Hence, the sermon was often in- 
audible because of general coughing. When one person 
coughed, it was sure to prove contagious, and soon became 
an epidemic. Thus with canine combats, coughing concerts, 
and the lusty crying of infants, the attention of the congre- 
gation was frequently occupied with things not down in the 
order of service. Nevertheless, all were accustomed to these 
interruptions, and were happy, greatly enjoying the Gospel 
convocation. 

We remained here from Thursday until Monday, and held 
several meetings ; in fact, we had a convention, or camp-meet- 
ing. When formal services were not being held, the people 
occupied themselves conversing about the Gospel, singing 
the sweet Gospel hymns, of which they were very fond, or 
gathering around us to ask us questions concerning the Word 
of God. They seemed never to tire of talking about what 
God has said. It was a matter of supreme importance to them 
and their minds and hearts were absorbed in the subject. 
They could say with the Psalmist, " O how I love thy law ! 

309 



Brazil 

It is my meditation all the day." How strangely the spirit of 
these new Christians contrasts with that of many people 
familiar with the Gospel for generations, but who studiously 
avoid all reference to spiritual things when church services 
are concluded. 

It interested us exceedingly to hear these primitive Chris- 
tians express in their own words and figures of speech the 
thoughts and teachings of Scripture as they comprehended 
them. As may be surmised, few of them were able to read, 
and of those who could, several had learned to do so after 
accepting the Gospel. It was for this reason that the woman 
of our party had come to live among them and give the chil- 
dren at least a rudimentary education, of which they were in 
the greatest need. Would God that many trained teachers 
might catch the spirit of Christ and engage in work of this 
kind. 

Probably thousands of earnest Christian teachers could 
maintain themselves teaching school in South America and 
do a noble work for God and the uplift of humanity. They 
could represent Christ and teach the Gospel besides teaching 
the other subjects usually taught in schools. Doubtless they 
would not become rich in purse, but they would become rich 
in royal deeds for the evangelizing and enlightening of men. 
" They that be teachers shall shine as the brightness of 
the firmament, and they that turn many to righteousness as 
the stars." But if no one will engage in this work except on 
a guaranteed salary and expenses, few indeed will ever take it 
up. 

If Paul had waited for an assured salary, would he have 
ever accomplished a fraction of what he did? And William 
Carey, too, " the consecrated cobbler," who became the 
" Apostle to India," providing for his own and his family's 
necessities during the first five years he was in India by work- 
ing in an indigo factory, did not wait for a living to be guar- 
anteed him. 

Thousands of native teachers are conducting private and 
semi-private schools in South America and securing, in most 

310 



Brazil. 

cases, a comfortable living. A large number are employed by- 
private individuals to teach their own children, and those 
perhaps of two or three of their neighbors. These persons 
are given board and lodging, and at least a small salary, 
though the majority of them, perhaps, are barely able to 
read and write. But even these teachers with their primitive 
methods and ideas, meet only a fraction of the need. 

The Lord's Supper, or " Holy Supper," as the Brazilian 
Christians call it, was commemorated at the Retiro Ranch 
Sunday evening. It was a deeply interesting occasion to me, 
and I believe a very solemn as well as exceedingly important 
event to these earnest, true-hearted, though uncultured people. 
The bread used was a kind of hardtack brought by Mr. Mor- 
ton as these people never have bread, and the wine was 
served from an ordinary bottle and glass. 

The only furniture in the large room in which the congre- 
gation assembled was a large, high, dining-table, made orig- 
inally for people to stand around while eating, a heavy, rough 
bench fifteen feet long and three feet high made from a huge 
slab or plank, resting upon four legs, a small table and three 
or four plain stools. The floor was of earth. At the meetings, 
the women and children filled the center of the room, sitting 
cross-legged on the ground, close together, while the men 
packed themselves in around the sides of the room, as many 
as could sitting on the bench and stools, the remainder 
standing. 

We were treated, of course, with the very perfection of 
hospitality, and banqueted every day on the choicest viands 
our host could prepare. A heavy toll was levied upon the 
poultry, and the calves were daily robbed of their breakfast 
and supper that delicacies might be prepared for us ; and both 
the fowls and the cattle must have been glad when they saw 
our last mule disappear over the hill as Ave departed. The mo- 
ment came all too soon to say good-bye to these dear Chris- 
tian friends; and after embracing and being embraced by all, 
according to Brazilian custom, we rode away to another ranch 
twenty-five miles distant, which was the meeting place of a 

311 



Brazil. 

branch of the church we had just been visiting. Here, too, 
we were received with the utmost Christian kindness and en- 
joyed a repetition of the experiences of the preceding days. 
It was a charming spot in the valley of the river Corumba, 
and surrounded by hills worthy to be called mountains. 

This ranch was a splendidly equipped establishment, and 
the family could produce at home nearly everything they 
needed. Though the house stood on high ground, they had 
tapped a mountain stream and brought the water to within 
a few feet of the house to propel the monjolo, which was 
operated by means of a bucket wheel instead of the con- 
trivance elsewhere described. This conduit also supplied ex- 
cellent water for domestic uses and for the large stock of cattle, 
horses, hogs and poultry. Besides corn-meal, the family made 
sugar and syrup, had a fine grove of coffee trees, and raised 
luscious oranges, bananas, and other fruits and vegetables. 
It was a delightful spot at which to tarry a few days. The 
character of the family living here was in harmony with 
their beautiful surroundings, because they had enthroned 
Christ in their hearts. 

We remained here two days and conducted three or four 
meetings. It was a time of refreshing for all present. At 
one of the meetings, Mr. Morton baptized a child. The father 
had embraced the Gospel, but the mother was opposed to 
it, though she was present at the baptism. While the usual 
questions were being put to the parents previous to adminis- 
tering the rite, the little one called for water, so the mother 
ignorantly took up the cup of baptismal water that stood 
upon the table near her and gave it to the child to drink. If 
there is any innate virtue in baptismal water, then this child 
was doubly baptized. The " Holy Supper " was commemo- 
rated in the evening. 

Leaving here, we went to the village of Santa Luzia, where 
there is another strong branch of the church of this region, 
recrossing enroute the river Corumba by means of a dugout 
canoe and swimming our horses. 

Santa Luzia is picturesquely situated, surrounded by in- 

313 



Brazil 

teresting hills and mountain spurs. It is more than a century- 
old, and was once a prosperous town because of the gold 
diggings ; but at the time of our visit, it had long since ceased 
to flourish and was in a sad state of decay. Half the houses 
were unoccupied and falling to ruin. The soil is well suited 
to the cultivation of coffee, and every family had a grove 
near their house. In fact, the queer old town resembled an 
ill-kept coffee plantation with rude and semi-ruined dwell- 
ings standing here and there among the coffee trees, ap- 
proached by winding paths and lanes. 

Much placer gold was taken out here in former times by 
Portuguese adventurers, who shoveled over the dirt by means 
of slave labor, extracting the gold exclusively by panning. 
Large tracts of " wash," or dirt, has been worked over. The 
dirt all about here is doubtless still rich in gold, which could 
be taken out in profitable quantities if modern appliances for 
extracting it could be conveniently introduced. A few men 
were still panning along the stream and taking out one or 
two dollars of the precious dust each day. Brazil is said to 
be one of the richest countries in gold in the world. Six hun- 
dred million dollars worth was mined prior to 1820. It is also 
enormously rich in black diamonds. Mica also abounds at 
Santa Luzia, and is used in the windows in place of glass. 

We found the village a remarkably quiet place — the quiet- 
ness of death, perhaps — and no one, apparently, seemed to 
have anything to do but " to look at the flies," as Brazilians 
aptly express it. The streets were nearly deserted much of 
the time. Even the pestilential wood lice, the carapatos, were 
roosting in alarming numbers on the tall weeds in the streets 
waiting to seize upon, bleed and poison man and beast. If 
one should visit the shoemaker, he would probably not be 
found in his shop, but instead, would be out holding a long 
conversation with a neighbor on some puerile occurrence. The 
same is true of the tinker and the tailor and all the rest of 
them. Even the jail was crumbling to dust. Presumably 
there were no criminals; nor did we see a policeman. Even 
the omnipresent turkey-buzzards were rarely seen roosting 

313 



Brazil 

on the house tops and lazily stretching their wings, but had 
apparently gone where carrion was more plentiful. There are 
two Romish temples in the town, the two towers of one of 
which are surmounted by an " image " of the cock that crowed 
when St. Peter denied his Master. But Romanism is nearly 
dead here, for there is but one priest and he a Negro. 

The Gospel has' taken deep root at Santa Luzia and the 
believers are many. Most of the leading families had already 
embraced the Gospel, or were attending the services. We were 
kindly entertained by the elder in whose house the Santa 
Luzia church met regularly. The house was built with a very 
large room to accommodate the church. 

We remained here several days, conducting meetings every 
evening and twice on Sunday. Since there were but few 
seats in the meeting room, we added all the stools, benches, 
boxes, traveling trunks and other objects available, thus seat- 
ing part of the congregation. Two or three candles were used 
to light the room at night. We observed that there were few 
children in this congregation, which was in striking contrast 
with the assemblies at the other places just visited. 

Mr. Morton preached the first night from the text, " With 
the heart man believeth unto righteousness, and with the 
mouth confession is made unto salvation," to which close 
attention was given, as at every service. A communion serv- 
ice was held Sunday evening, and a few young people united 
with the church on confession of faith. One of these was a 
young woman whose parents were never married, though they 
once lived together several years. Both parents were bitterly 
opposed to their daughter becoming a follower of Christ and 
uniting with the church, her mother declaring that if she did 
so she would have to leave home instantly. When her father 
was consulted regarding her desire, he said, " It is a very 
bad religion; but it is lifting up its head here, and I suppose 
we cannot stop it." When the girl came before the session, 
she made a noble confession of faith, saying that she had de- 
termined to follow the Lord Jesus Christ, and to this end 
she was ready and willing to endure any suffering. But the 

314 



Brazil 

poor creature was sorely perplexed for a time as to what 
course she should pursue. She wished to be a good and 
obedient daughter, on the one hand, while on the other, she 
could not disobey God and her conscience. Regarding her 
parents, she was counseled that, as she was twenty-three years 
of age, she was at liberty to do as she deemed right in the 
matter. She inquired if she would be disobeying God if 
she did not make a public confession of faith, then answered 
the question herself quoting, " He that loveth father or mother 
more than me is not worthy of me." She finally united with 
the Church, and her mother, true to her threat, drove her from 
home. But she was at once given a far better home. 

Sunday, the Romanists held a festa at their end of the vil- 
lage, in worship of the " Divine One." They indulged in a 
sham battle at noon in front of their temple, using dynamite 
rockets for muskets and cannon. 'But the elements promptly 
joined in the celebration with a copious fall of rain, which 
terminated the sham fight before it became a real fight, as 
it often did, for the participants were more or less filled with 
the spirit of the god Bacchus. They also had a banquet, which 
was presented and eaten as an offering to the idol, or " holy 
one " as they call it. 

Though we presumed that every family in the village had 
already been visited by a colporteur, we nevertheless went 
among the people to offer them the Bible and talk with them. 
One family visited was that of the village druggist. Though 
this man was bound hand and foot with the grave clothes of 
his pagan religion, his wife hungered for spiritual food which 
her religion could not give her. We had a long and inter- 
esting talk with them. 

At length, one morning, bidding adieu to kind Christian 
friends whom we had learned to love and esteem, we resumed 
our journey; and after riding all day over high hills, across 
broad valleys and by ancient gold diggings, we halted for 
the night at a quiet, charming spot by the Alagada river, 
sleeping in our tent for the first time in two weeks. Two 
crotched trees stood here twenty feet apart, and having cut 

315 



Brazil. 

a pole, we placed it in these forks, threw our tent over it 
and staked it down. Our men slept under a roof of hides. 
Our horses strayed away during the night searching for good 
tasting grass, so we were delayed in reaching the following day 
our next objective point, the Fazenda do Rio Pedra Descoberta 
— Bare Rock River Ranch. We halted briefly at a few dwell- 
ings by the trail where we were treated with much kindness 
and had enjoyable talks with the people concerning the Gos- 
pel. Just at dusk, we forded the little river Pedra Descoberta, 
and immediately afterward arrived at our destination where we 
were received affectionately and almost reverently by a little 
company of believers, and remained here over one day. 

The people began at once to gather in from every quarter 
until eighty or more had assembled. They came, as usual, on 
horses and mules and on foot, dressed in cotton home-spun, 
or print, and the women hatless. No missionary or regular 
minister of the Gospel had ever before visited this place, the 
Gospel having been planted here by a young man from the 
Santa Luzia Church six months before we came. Previous 
to this time, the people were enveloped in superstition ; and 
we were told that had we appeared among them then, they 
would have believed that we were demons from the pit; but 
now they regarded us almost as messengers from heaven. 
The man in whose house we were entertained with the great- 
est cordiality, and where this body of new-born Christians 
assembled regularly to worship God in spirit and in truth, 
was a few months before in the thraldom of heathenism ; and 
when first spoken to concerning the Gospel, exclaimed, an- 
grily, " Do not speak to me of this accursed religion .! I do 
not wish to hear even the name mentioned ! " But now, he 
and all his house, and many of his friends and neighbors, are 
earnest followers of Christ. The coming of the glorious 
Evangel was to them a resurrection day — the beginning of a 
new era. 

We held three meetings. As usual, the men and boys stood 
near the walls of the usual large room of the house, while the 
women and girls squatted on ox-hides on the ground in the 

316 



Brazil 

center of the room and the dogs filled the space in front of 
the improvised pulpit. The service progressed without special 
incident until a hymn was announced. Probably not more 
than one or two of the congregation had ever heard these 
hymns sung with any degree of correctness. Only a few of the 
men attempted to sing them, and they did it in a kind of wailing 
chant, much as they once recited prayers in their heathen 
religion. To participate in this singing was impossible to 
us, and we could only sit and listen in amazement. One with 
any sense of humor could scarcely avoid smiling, though this 
astonishing music was of a melancholy character and the 
singers were deeply in earnest. These Christian services 
meant very much indeed to these people — more than words 
can express. They listened to the sermon with rapt attention ; 
and, though its delivery occupied forty-five minutes — much 
too long for a North American congregation — they thought 
it not one-third long enough. Each one of our party of three 
should have preached a sermon each night. Probably but 
few of these dear people had ever before heard a sermon. 

The benediction pronounced, all resumed their places, not 
a soul seeming to have a thought of leaving the room. Soon, 
all fell to conversing earnestly, in a perfectly natural manner, 
about that which was uppermost in their minds — the Book 
of God and the joyous " new religion." At length, after the 
lapse of an hour, the women and children began to straggle 
out into the cook-room — the special realm of the Brazilian 
woman — leaving the large room still well filled with men, 
boys and dogs. At ten thirty o'clock, the pulpit was dismantled 
and trays of coffee and manioc meal cakes were brought in and 
served to the numerous company. Eleven o'clock came 
and still no one had left the house — the large room was still 
crowded with men and boys and the women filled the kitchen, 
all continuing to converse, not about their cattle, horses and 
oxen, but about the things of the Kingdom of God. Eleven 
thirty and twelve o'clock came and yet there was but little 
change ; a small group continued to sing Gospel hymns, while 
the rest of the company still talked about the wonderful 

317 



Brazil 

Divine Law, compared their old religion with it, noting its 
vast superiority, and asked us earnest, pertinent questions 
about what God had said. Their poor, starved souls hungered 
intensely for the knowledge of the Living God, the heavenly 
manna, and it seemed impossible to satiate their enormous 
spiritual appetites. They were like the Psalmist, who said, 
" Mine eyes anticipated the night-watches, that I might medi- 
tate on thy word." 

After midnight, my two companions, much fatigued, went 
to rest in a little room opening from the large one, while I 
was left to sleep in the assembly-room because there was no 
room to swing the hammock in the bed-room. Though I, too, 
was very weary, I shrank from suspending my hammock in 
the midst of this large company. But I did swing it, finally, 
hoping that it might suggest sleep to our earnest friends ; but 
it had no visible effect. Another half hour passed, yet they 
still conversed and sang as earnestly as ever, their numbers 
but little diminished, while I longed for an opportunity to 
sleep. The canine contingent also retained its place in 
front of the pulpit, and fought the hordes of fleas that were 
feasting upon them. At last, two o'clock came and coffee 
was again served, after which these dear, earnest people began 
to disperse to their own homes, or to their various sleeping 
places at the ranch, unwilling, even now to discontinue the 
meeting, which had begun at sunset. 

We held another preaching service in the morning at 
eight o'clock, before breakfast, and a communion service in 
the evening, when ten persons were received into the church 
on confession of faith. But nearly all day long and until 
midnight, the second night, small groups could be seen here 
and there talking about God's Word, and singing hymns as 
best they could. They put questions to us without end which 
were intelligent and practical. 

I slept in the monjolo the second night in order to make 
sure of getting some sleep; and the following morning, we 
resumed our journey toward the capital of Goyaz. 

The hours spent with this new-born church was a time of 

318 



Brazil. 

great spiritual enjoyment and refreshing to all of us; and 
departing, we had literally to tear ourselves away from these 
warm-hearted, devoted people. They were inexpressibly dis- 
appointed at the shortness of our visit. We should have stayed 
with them a week or two. It might have resulted in much 
good to the infant church, and many persons still outside the 
fold of Christ might have been brought in. The dear people 
who had already accepted Christ were in much need of 
Biblical instruction. They said to us, with grief, " you were 
never here before, nor has any one like you ever visited 
us ; yet you remain but two nights and one day, then depart ; 
and who knows when you will ever again come to us?" 
It pains me to record that not one of our party has ever 
visited them since that day. 

I shall always cherish tender, happy memories of this and 
all the branches of the Santa Luzia Church, and of the sim- 
ple, true-hearted Christian people who treated us so affec- 
tionately. Whenever I think of the youngest of these churches, 
especially, I grieve that I could not have remained longer 
with them ; and I wish with all my soul that I had the power 
to transport myself to-day to this, or equally needy places. 



319 



Chapter XXIX. 

THE CONFLICT OF CHRISTIANITY WITH HEATH- 
ENISM.— SEMI-BARBAROUS CITIES. 

After riding three days, camping each night at some 
ranch and sleeping in hog shelters, cattle sheds and other 
barn-yard buildings, we arrived at the village of Corumba. 
Here, we remained over Sunday, occupying a shanty, one 
wall of which had crumbled down. The ranchmen every- 
where along the trail treated us to coffee and manioc meal 
cakes, or cheese, when we visited them. One such, at the 
Fazenda do Rio de Ouro — Gold River Ranch — inquired if we 
were prospecting for gold. We replied that we were seeking 
something better than gold, then had a good talk with him 
concerning the Gospel and gave him a Testament. At an- 
other house visited, the mistress was unable to read, besides 
had no money ; but as she seemed very desirous of possess- 
ing a Bible that she might learn to read it herself and teach 
it to her children, we gave her a copy, and also a Scripture 
pamphlet. Many of the ranches we saw were old and well- 
equipped establishments. 

We were now crossing the great central plateau which is 
some four thousand feet above sea-level; and though the 
sun was very warm at noon, we were favored with deliciously 
refreshing air. This appeared to be a delightful part of the 
world in which to reside. It is well up in the tropics where 
summer never ceases, and withal, so elevated that day and 
night always the happy dweller is fanned by gentle, invigor- 

3S0 




The Capital of Goyaz. 



See Chapter xxix. 



Brazil 

ating breezes; though the weather rarely becomes unpleas- 
antly cool, nor does the wind ever blow strong. It would 
seem that men might live to a great age in this healthy, 
charming region of even temperature, and attain to a very 
high degree of development. The trail across this great 
table was at times like a splendid carriage road. Because 
of our lofty position and the wonderful transparency of the 
atmosphere, a mighty expanse of wild, rugged world came 
within our view, and we saw around us a stupendous, natural, 
cycloramic picture one hundred miles or more in breadth, 
sketched by the hand of God. 

A few horsemen that passed us just before we reached 
the village of Corumba, hurried forward to announce our 
coming to the villagers ; so when we arrived and " paraded " 
down the main street, we attracted as much attention, ap- 
parently, as a circus. Every human being in the hamlet, 
seemingly, eyed us through gaping windows, doors and door- 
jambs, and chinks and cracks in the walls of their rude 
dwellings. All appeared to fear us, and were anxious to remain 
behind barricades, for we were now no longer regarded as 
angels from heaven, as at Santa Luzia, but instead, were 
the representatives of Satan. The village was in the grip of 
heathenism, and the little priest was almost an absolute mon- 
arch. Everybody, whether rich or poor, learned or ignorant, 
willingly or through fear, obeyed him implicitly. Conse- 
quently, we were not over-run with callers, but were avoided 
as if we had the plague. 

We tried to secure the municipal chamber in which to 
hold meetings Sunday, but the men who controlled it were 
afraid to let us have it. None of them would tell us frankly 
that we could not have it, but each one we visited sent us to 
someone else, saying, " I have no authority to let you have 
it. You should see Senhor Fulano." Finally, when we reached 
the last man, we were informed that he was absent from the 
village. This is a common experience. 

Another missionary, giving his experience, says : " I vis- 
ited Tuberao " — Shark — " which is one of the most fanatical 

21 321 



Brazil. 

towns I have seen. I had very hard work to get a place in 
which to hold meetings as no one would let me have a room 
for such a dreadful purpose. One woman whom I called 
upon, had a hall that she rented for dances and other amuse- 
ments. As I entered, she was adding up the winnings from 
the day's gambling, for she was an inveterate gambler; and 
when I stated my business, she replied quickly : ' No, I 
will not rent a room of mine for such a damnable purpose ! ' : 
" Damnable?" Indeed! The reading and preaching of God's 
Holy Word, damnable? ! Unhappy people! 

A tract circulated by the religious leaders of these people 
read as follows : " We are tolerant, and friendly to progress 
and liberty; but we cannot be tolerant toward Protestantism 
any more than a nation can be tolerant toward cholera-morbus 
and the plague." 

At Corumba the little priest of Jupiter officiated at two 
or three functions in his temple, Sunday, and pronounced a 
discourse launching his thunderbolts at us, our Bible and the 
Gospel we proclaimed. Priests who have not preached for 
years, are galvanized into action when we appear. The first 
ceremony ,in the temple, occurring before dawn, was an- 
nounced by what sounded like salvos of artillery, but which 
was really the firing of charges of powder from iron tubes. 
As far as possible, these religious ceremonies were held at 
hours when it was thought we might attempt to hold meetings. 

But Sunday evening, we and our men sang Gospel hymns 
for a time at the old ruin we were camped in, which attracted 
to us a number of men and boys to whom we read and ex- 
plained the Scriptures, they listening attentively. The music 
appeared to please them much. 

Making some calls during the forenoon, we were eyed by 
everybody — from a safe distance, as on the previous day. It 
was very interesting to observe the expression on the faces 
of the women and children: It was a mixture of fear, sus- 
picion, curiosity and pity — pity that we should merit such a 
curse as the priest had pronounced upon us, and be con- 
demned to destruction when we might be decent men. The 

1 322 



Brazil 

faces of the children, especially, were an open book as to what 
the priest and their parents said and thought about us. It 
is a very painful experience to be regarded by the people, 
especially the young, as the incarnation of wickedness, when 
one knows in his own soul that he is the bearer of " glad 
tidings of great joy to all men;" and that if they would re- 
ceive his message, removing the plugs of fear and prejudice 
from their ears and listening to the Voice of the Eternal — 
the Word of God — they would become transformed spiritually, 
mentally and socially, and enter upon a far higher plain of 
existence. It would be to them an awakening from the dead. 

What must have been the feelings of the adorable Saviour 
when, " He came to His own and His own received Him not: " 
when, knowing that God had sent Him, they roared that the 
Devil had sent Him ; when He sought to lead them into the 
path of life, they insisted that He was alluring them to ruin ; 
and when He would have removed the burden of sin and guilt 
and planted heaven in their hearts, they nailed Him to a 
cross. If Christ was treated thus, need his servants marvel 
if they, too, are regarded as devils? 

One of the persons we visited, was a leading merchant 
of the village. Entering his store — for it was open — other 
prominent individuals straggled in, impelled by curiosity. 
They were anxious to talk politics and to awe us by a great 
display of knowledge of current events in the world. One 
young man in particular, having a casual acquaintance with 
the English language, thought to instruct us regarding it. 
His verbosity seemed unlimited. It was like a storm of wind, 
dust and thunder without rain. These men were feverish 
lest we should speak to them of the Gospel, for the priest, 
poisoning their minds, told them it was a " mortal sin " to 
listen to us read even one sentence from God's Holy Word. 
So they sought to overwhelm us with a hurricane of empty 
verbiage. The man who rented us the old ruin, professed 
to be a materialist — though we noticed that he was anxious to 
keep on good terms with the priest. There seemed no end to 
his foolish chatter either, so we named him loquacious. He 

323 



Brazil 

tried to inform himself of all that we did, and of our 
plans. 

Monday, we succeeded in disposing of some Bibles, but 
most of the people we visited were fearful and very uneasy 
because of our presence, though they would not be rude to 
us. Mr. Morton, entering the post-office, met the priest face 
to face. The post-master, seeing him come in, hastened for- 
ward with a cry of fear, evidently thinking that a bloody 
affray was imminent between the two men. Several persons, 
however, were so well pleased with the Gospel music they 
heard Sunday that they were sorry they did not get us the 
municipal chamber for a meeting. A " baby organ " would 
have been very useful to us during this campaign. 

We went next to the town of Pyrenopolis, sixteen miles 
distant, where we remained two days. We crossed enroute, 
the highest point of the ridge dividing the Amazon and La 
Plata river systems, and saw around us a wonderful panorama 
of natural scenery that extended from our view-point seem- 
ingly into infinity. 

As usual, we " paraded " through the town, gazed at by 
everything human " along the line of march," and camped 
in an old building reserved for travelers, there being no hos- 
telry in the city. 

Pyrenopolis is the second city in size and importance in 
the great state of Goyaz, and is two hundred and sixty years 
old. It certainly looks very ancient, and very decadent as 
well, few persons appearing to have any occupation. All 
were resting, eternally resting. One wonders how such a 
town can continue to exist, and how the inhabitants con- 
trive to keep alive. One ordinarily thinks of a city as a 
place where are found comfortable and palatial homes, fac- 
tories, schools, churches, hotels, business blocks, banking in- 
stitutions, telegraph and telephone lines, railways, a post-office, 
newspapers, lawyers, doctors, bakeries, busy streets with con- 
siderable movement of carriages, drays and other vehicles. 
But Pyrenopolis possesses scarcely any of these appurte- 
nances of a city. It has no street lights, or water-works, 
or sewers. No vehicle, except the ponderous ox-cart, ever 

324 



Brazil 

appears in its streets. Its schools are two vociferating relics 
of the dark ages, each held in a dirty enclosure, where future 
citizens are taught a little reading and writing and the multi- 
plication table. There was one physician in the town — only 
one; but he appeared to have no practice whatever — though 
there were perhaps hundreds of people around him needing 
medical attention — because, as he himself said, " there is no 
money here " — because he could get very little pay for his 
services as the people are extremely poor. He was content, 
therefore, to bury his talent and let them suffer and die. 
There are four fine, monstrous temples in the city, but they 
stand for that which gives no light, if we may judge it by 
its fruits, but which, instead, obscures and totally eclipses 
the Light. If they stand for that which disseminates light, 
Why these four huge temples, that are to the other buildings 
of the little town as whales among the other creatures of 
the sea, and yet only two schools, wholly unworthy of the 
name of school, and held in hovels? 

At evening, while in a store purchasing supplies, we asked 
the old merchant if he would not like a Bible. He replied 
that he already had one; and at our request, took down from 
among the dust and dirt at the top of a high shelf, a big, 
two-volume Bible printed in Latin and Portuguese, with ex- 
tensive notes, which the priest had said was a " good Bible." 
It was virtually never read. We had a long talk with the old 
man, reading the Ten Commandments to him from his Bible, 
especially the one bearing upon image worship. This seri- 
ously disturbed his mind, and I fancy he wished he had not 
shown us the Book. Then we compared our Bible with his, 
convincing him that they were in perfect accord, both trans- 
lations, indeed, having been made by the same man. Further, 
the president of the council having willingly opened to us the 
municipal chamber in which to hold a Gospel meeting, we 
borrowed our friend's ponderous Bible from which to read and 
preach an expository sermon, in order to convince the people, 
if possible, that we were not deceiving them. This was a case 
case of capturing and turning upon the enemy his own 
artillery. 

325 



Brazil. 

Our congregation was composed entirely of men and a 
few boys, who remained standing as there were no seats. 
Had the meeting been held at a family residence, women would 
have been present as well as men, though perhaps not visibly 
present. Our party, sang several Gospel hymns, which our 
audience appeared to much enjoy. The sermon also, to which 
they gave close and respectful attention, pleased and inter- 
ested them. Several of the principal men of the town, urged 
us to remain longer and hold more meetings, assuring us 
that the attendance would be much increased; but we could 
not do so. In going from house to house among the people, 
we were well received. 

Another two days' march brought us to the village of 
Jaragua, the name of a very nutritious grass that is abun- 
dant in this region. Our route lay through a very picturesque 
country, serpentining down beautiful valleys and at the foot 
of mountains that rose up a thousand feet above our path. 
We camped one night in a rum distillery. One day, we saw 
a pair of large, gray monkeys making grimaces at us from 
among the tree-tops as we rode by ; and later, we encountered 
in the road a tamandua merirn that had just been dining at an 
ant hill. 

We camped in an old two-story building at the village of 
Jaragua; and after getting settled, went among the people, 
as usual, to talk with them and offer them the Bible. Many 
were afraid of us, eyeing us as if to look through the sheep's 
clothing and espy the wolf. One person took a Gospel, ob- 
tained from us, to the priest, who made an address to the 
people that same evening in the temple condemning the little 
book, and saying that it was " altered," " falsified," etc., and 
sternly commanding the people to refuse to touch it. Being 
informed of what the priest had said, we visited him the 
following morning to ask him to prove his statements. He 
treated us politely, when we succeeded in rinding him. 
He was a corpulent degenerate, bullet-headed, with a brutal 
countenance. His face was, indeed, a true picture of his char- 
acter, for his morals were in a sad state of decay, he being 
given up to the indulgence of animal passions. 

326 



Brazil 

When seated, one of us said to him : " We observe that 
you are arranging for a festa." 

" We are, sirs," he replied, with an air of aggrieved sanc- 
tity. " But, though there will be a great deal of animation 
and noise, there will be very little spirituality ( !) The priest 
preaches and preaches, but the people, poor things, continue 
ignorant and brutal, and without any spiritual perception." 

Imagine, if one can, the absurdity of such an utterance from 
a man of this character! What did he mean by spirituality t 
Was it not that the " poor things " should submit like cattle 
to his will, and should spend, perhaps hours each day, kneel- 
ing in the temple, like statues, and gazing vacantly at some 
" picture," or idol, until they should become as devoid of 
mind as the figure before them, and should become as clay in 
the hands of the priestly potter? How could they do other 
than to " continue ignorant and brutal " when their teacher and 
vice-god was "dead in sin," instead of dead to sin? — being 
indeed an animal man instead of a spiritual man. 

At length, Mr. Searle said to him : " We heard that you 
said to the people last night that our Bibles were altered and 
falsified: Why did you say this? The law of the land gives 
us full protection in the work in which we are engaged. 
Why should you seek to injure us?" 

He replied, in substance, that our Bible, or rather, the 
Gospel of Luke which he held in his hand, was " false," " first, 
because it is not the entire Bible ; and secondly, it is not pub- 
lished with our permission." 

" But," we objected, " the Gospel of Luke you have in 
your hand, is exactly the same, word for word, as the Gospel 
of Luke in the Bible which you assert is a true Bible." 

" That may be," he replied, " nevertheless, it is false ; and 
your entire Bible is false, though it may be in the most perfect 
accord, so far as it goes, with the Bible we recognize as author- 
itative, for the reason that it does not contain the book of 
Maccabees. Moreover, all Bibles, or portions of the Bible, 
are false that are not published by the permission of each 
and every one of our bishops, even though the text should 

327 



Brazil. 

be precisely the same as the Bibles they have authorized. 
This shows our zeal to conserve the Scriptures." ( ! ?) 

What amazing logic ! What astonishing zeal ! Such an 
argument merits only contempt, or ridicule. According to 
this, a dinner should be refused that lacks bread or the 
dessert, or has not the approval of the Chinese epicures. 
Algebra or geometry is false because they are not the whole of 
mathematics and are not approved by the Mohammedan uni- 
versity (?). The Copernican system is false because it is not 
the whole of astronomy, and was condemned by the Inquisi- 
tion. The Methodist Church is false and ought not to be toler- 
ated because it is not the whole Church, and not authorized 
by the Roman pontiffs or the Grand Lamas of Thibet; while 
idolatory is true worship because it is authorized by both. 
Moreover, Jesus and His Apostles were notorious deceivers 
because they made use of only parts of the Old Testament; 
worse, were not authorized to teach by the Sanhedrin. Finally, 
every one of the sixty-six books composing the Bible was 
false for centuries until bound into one volume. 

But what shadow of right has this host of evil men, as- 
suming the guise of holiness, to combine and attempt to 
" corner " the Holy Scriptures ; then say to the peoples of 
the earth, you shall not open this Book without our per- 
mission, yet we will never give you permission? This is 
nothing less than an attempt to gag the Most High. It 
is, moreover, a conspiracy against humanity. Jesus Christ 
may not say to men to-day as he once said, " God so loved 
the world that He gave His only Son, that whosoever believeth 
in Him should not perish, but have eternal life," and " Come 
unto me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give 
you rest," without a permit from several scores of arrogant 
and pompous prelates. And when He does essay to speak 
the sweet and glorious words of Life and Hope and Peace, 
they vomit forth thunders and lightnings of anathema and 
command Him to be. silent. " Woe unto you, scribes and 
Pharisees, hypocrites ! for ye shut up the kingdom of heaven 
against men; for ye neither go in yourselves, neither suffer 

328 




Messrs. Searle, Morton and the Author Breakfasting at their Camp 
in the Wilds of Goyaz. 




Good-bye to Messrs. Searle and Morton. Their departure from Goyaz. 
See Chapter xxix. 



Brazil 

ye them that are entering to go in. * * * Ye are like unto 
whitened sepulchres, which indeed appear beautiful outward, 
but are within full of dead men's bones, and of all unclean- 
ness. * * * Ye blind guides * * * Ye serpents, ye generation 
of vipers, how can ye escape the damnation of hell?" 

According to this priest's own admission, the people are 
starving spiritually — starving for the Bread of Life, the Word 
of God, yet he forbids them to partake of it under pain of 
eternal damnation. 

But these and other ostensible reasons for condemning our 
Bible, are mere subterfuges and excuses. The true motive 
of the fierce antagonism of the sacerdotal army to the Bible — 
all Bibles — is that the doctrines it teaches and their doc- 
trines, are as opposite as the poles. And they know that if 
the people get the Bible and read it with the smallest degree 
of sincerity, the spell of the priest over them will surely be 
broken and " they will lift up their heads" and become men ; for, 
" the entrance of thy word giveth light, it giveth understand- 
ing to the simple." " Thy Word is a lamp unto my feet and 
a light unto my path," and " man shall not live by bread 
alone, but by every word * * of God." " The fear of Jehovah 
is the beginning of knowledge ; " " blessed is the man " 
whose " delight is in the law of Jehovah, and on His law doth 
he meditate day and night. He shall be like a tree planted 
by the streams of water." The priests, of course, will never 
admit the true cause of their wicked war upon the Bible, 
unless they can succeed in utterly destroying its authority. 

Is it not as evident as one's own existence that if the 
Bible accorded with and supported their doctrines, preten- 
sions and practices — and they would have us believe that it 
does — it would strengthen prodigiously their position? This 
being true, would they rest day or night until it was in the 
hands of all their subjects? And would they not welcome the 
Bible distributor with the sincerest gratitude as Wellington 
welcomed the Prussians at Waterloo? Is it conceivable that 
they should incite their followers to riot and bloodshed, and 
should wrathfully gather up and destroy Bibles by the ton 

329 



i Brazil. 

for any such trivial and absurd reasons (?) as the priest in 
question names? No! It is because the Bible attacks and 
destroys the very foundations of their religion and overthrows 
their supremacy. This gigantic and subtle religious trust is 
threatened with annihilation by the Chief Corner-stone, just 
as the colossal image of Nebuchadnezzar's dream was annihi- 
lated by the stone that " was cut out without hands, which 
smote the image upon its feet * * * and it was broken in 
pieces and became like the chaff of the summer threshing 
floor, and the wind carried them away, and the stone that 
smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole 
earth." 

Taking leave of the priest, we said to him : " Anciently, 
the Word of God, or any fragment of it, was treated, not 
only with respect, but with reverence ; so we would remind 
you that it is a great wickedness to destroy, or even to de- 
spise the smallest portion of it. You may call it ' false/ and 
sneering at it, try to extirpate it, but it will ultimately 
triumph ; for Truth, like God Himself, is eternal." " Forever, 
O Jehovah, thy word is settled in heaven." " Till heaven and 
earth pass away, one jot or one tittle shall in no wise pass 
from the law." But the man laughed a short, hysterical laugh, 
and we left him. 

Three days more of travel brought us to the village of 
Curralinho. We camped one night, enroute, at the Rio dos 
Patos — Duck River; and the next night at Alegre — Happy — 
Brook, where we remained over Sunday in our tent, passing 
a quiet day. We were visited at evening by a number of 
people living in the vicinity, for whom we sang Gospel hymns 
and read and explained the Scriptures. Our camp was at 
a pretty spot, but during the night a herd of cattle, mad for 
salt, seemed determined to lick up our entire equipment; and 
as they fought each other for chances to lick, everybody 
and everything was in danger of being trampled into the 
ground. 

We traversed during these three days a magnificent and 
very fertile region. It was originally heavily wooded, but 

330 



Brazil. 

much of the timber had been cleared during a long period of 
time. We saw everywhere wonderful meadows of Jaragua 
grass. The growth was very dense, and so high in places 
that a man riding on horseback could not see over it. 

We remained but one night at Curralinho, as a festa was 
being held in homage to the great goddess, and everybody 
was excited and preoccupied. We arrived just in time to 
witness an interesting equestrian tournament commemorating 
events of the Moorish wars in Spain. The priest, in charge at 
this village was an imbecile, having just enough memory to 
enable him to recite the priestly offices in the temple. 

Two days more of travel, and we entered the capital of 
Goyaz. As there was no hotel, we stayed in an old vacant 
house in the center of the town. 

It was with peculiar sensations that I again entered this 
far-away city of Goyaz after my long absence, during which 
time I had traveled about eleven thousand miles, circumscrib- 
ing a large portion of Brazil, and life had been crowded with 
strange events. All this time, too, I had greatly desired to 
revisit the city ; and to this day I have saudades — homesick- 
ness — for this place, though why, I scarcely know. We had 
now ridden five hundred miles or more since our departure 
from Araguary. 

The first thing we did after getting settled, was to go 
to the telegraph office — for there is a government line to the 
city — and despatch a message. Then, we went to the post- 
office where we all got some mail, the first received since the 
beginning of our campaign, and which we were overjoyed to 
get ; and lastly, we visited the city barber, who was merely an 
amateur. We occupied the remainder of the day reading our 
much-prized mail, writing letters, resting, and making a few 
calls. 

In the morning, we visited the president of the town coun- 
cil to ask for the use of a school-room in which to hold a few 
meetings. Going to his residence, we were ushered into the 
usual large room. He was a medical doctor, and the walls 
of the room were covered with chromo pictures of hideous 

331 



Brazil 

and revolting sores and ulcerations on the human body, re- 
sulting largely from venereal diseases. After we had waited 
some time, " his honor," finally appeared, dressed in his 
nightclothes ; and following a brief conversation, we stated 
to him the object of our visit. " I cannot let you have the 
school-room," he blurted out, roughly, " for the law forbids 
that it should be used for any religious purposes. Religion 
must be kept separate from the schools." We were not asking 
for the school, but merely for the empty school-room for a few 
evenings. So " religion must be kept separate from the 
schools ! " Indeed ! Yet the fat, fanatical friars went to the 
schools every week and harangued the children. During the 
short conversation we had with this man, he said, " I do not 
believe in my own religion, much less in yours." We learned 
afterward that he was under the influence of a priest who had 
visited him and instructed him not to let us have any place 
in which to hold meetings. Whatever may have been his 
medical knowledge, his behavior revealed him to be a coarse, 
ignorant man. We learned, moreover, that though he was 
never married, he yet has had more wives than an ordinary 
Mormon. 

We next visited the governor of the State, who received 
us graciously, and we had a very pleasant conversation with 
him. He had lived at Rio de Janeiro for many years, and 
was a man of culture and refinement. At our request, he 
very kindly placed at our disposal, free of charge, the Lyceum 
hall, which was a much better room than the one we had 
sought to obtain from " his honor." 

The priest became very active upon our arrival, distribu- 
ting among the people booklets full of falsehoods and absurd- 
ities regarding our religion. 

We held meetings four consecutive evenings in the Lyceum 
hall. Our congregation was entirely of the male sex, as is 
always the case when a public hall is used in a hitherto un- 
worked town. About one hundred and fifty persons were 
present the first evening, but the remaining evenings the at- 
tendance was smaller. Nearly all remained standing during 

332 



Brazil 

the entire service as there were but few seats. We were 
given close and respectful attention, and as usual the singing 
of the Gospel hymns seemed to give much pleasure to our 
auditors. During each day we went about among the people 
with the Bible. The state legislature was in session at the 
time, and a few of the delegates visited us to purchase Bibles. 
One of these had come six hundred miles on horseback from 
the north. He bought a large Bible and a Testament, besides 
two or three other books, to take home. 

We lived in the house we occupied just as we did in 
our tent. When dining, we dipped the food from the pots onto 
our plates and sat on our boxes, each holding his plate in one 
hand. The legislators had to " ranch " in vacant houses like 
we did, unless entertained by resident families. 

Since I was to reside for a time at the town of Goyaz, 
my colleagues left me within a few days to return home. I 
must confess that when we bade each other a final farewell 
and these dear friends to whom I felt so closely attached by 
the ties of Christian love and service, and by the isolation 
of our position, mounted their horses and rode away, leaving 
me in this remote place without any human companionship 
and at the mercy of men dominated by the spirit of the dark 
ages, who would not hesitate to inflict upon me any injury 
within their power, I was almost overcome with the feeling 
of utter loneliness and abandonment. I never again met these 
dear friends. One of them, brother Charles M. Morton is 
now clothed with immortality. There is no tie like " the 
tie that binds our hearts in Christian love." This insatiable 
longing for Christian friends, and for " some dear familiar 
spot," was intensified by my situation. But there was no time 
to surrender myself to this dire sickness. 

With my companions went our cook and cuisine, my bed — 
or that which had served as a bed, for I could not suspend my 
hammock — indeed, it seemed as if everything had gone ; and in 
addition to my grief at parting, I felt like one who had just 
been burned out without being able to save anything. Nothing 
was left to me but the dirty, dismal, dungeon-like hovel in 

333 



Brazil 

which we had camped, my two small trunks, and the rats. 
I had to skurry around at once and find a family to furnish 
me meals, else I would have " to go to bed without any 
supper ; " next, to fix up a bed, or there would be no bed to go 
to. This done, I began to search for a house to live in perman- 
ently, having a large room in which to hold meetings, in addi- 
tion to being more pleasant; and finally, rented one of the 
largest houses in the town, located in the principal square, pay- 
ing a rental of ten dollars per month for it. My meals cost me 
twelve dollars per month. I secured with much difficulty, a few 
second-hand benches and a small table, for no new furniture 
could be obtained in this city except by ordering it made by 
a carpenter and waiting, perhaps months, for it. 

Taking possession of my new house, I found it already 
occupied by a very numerous company — of huge rats. But 
they manifested no unwillingness to ratify my contract for 
the house. They held tournaments and carnivals in my sleep- 
ing-room and under my hammock every night; and though 
they were not exactly friends of mine, yet there was a grim 
consolation in the fact that while their platoons were " drill- 
ing, marching and countermarching " under my hammock, 
I felt confident that nothing worse was present — an assassin, 
for instance. 

A heavy " run " was made at once upon my supply of 
Gospels, which were bound separately, and sold at two cents 
each. The purchasers were children who were made to play 
the role of " jackals " for the local detachment of the priestly 
army, twenty or more strong, to whom they delivered the 
little books. The scheme was to quickly exhaust my entire 
stock of the accursed volumes, and thus to pull the teeth 
of the dragon — myself. But learning what was " in the wind," 
I doubled the price of the books, and shortly afterward, a 
shipment of several hundred more arrived, so that I was able 
to meet all demands. For each Gospel that the children de- 
livered to the priests, they were given in exchange a worthless 
little card from Great Britain, having a colored picture of 
a " holy one " on one side, while on the reverse side, strange 

334 



Brazil. 

to say, was a pill advertisement. The British manufacturer, 
knowing that the South Americans like to have pictures of 
their gods, took advantage of this fact to advertise his pills. 
The Anglo-Saxons send the heathen world the Bible, but 
by some inexplicable inconsistency, they send also with it 
a demijohn of rum and a box of gods. 

The priests considered these wretched bits of pasteboard 
of more value to the children than the Thoughts of the Omnis- 
cient. But they did not secure all the books that the children 
purchased, for in many instances, " the folks at home " became 
interested in reading them, and retained them. 

One day, approaching my house, I encountered a mob of 
boys and youths, sent and inspired by the priest who had 
become weary of trying to exhaust my supply of books by 
purchase. These boys reviled me ; and when I locked the 
house and left it to go to dinner, though it was located in 
the square and sentries were pacing up and down at the gov- 
ernment buildings in full view of it, the boys broke in through 
a window and flung the Bibles around the room and into the 
street, carrying a number of them to the house of Socrates, 
an uncle of the priest named Confucius, and here Confucius rent 
them asunder and burned them publically. Can one imagine 
the famous old philosophers, the original Socrates and Con- 
fucius, having been so insanely unphilosophic as to try to 
destroy the heavenly Philosophy! Verily, Socrates and Con- 
fucius have degenerated sadly. Some half-burned pages of 
the burned volumes were brought back and pushed under 
my door. At evening the same day, the house was again 
broken into and more Bibles stolen, besides other property. 
A few of the large Bibles were taken to the friars' rendez- 
vous, from which place they were afterward recovered by 
the police. I talked over the situation with the vice-president 
of the State, who was cordial to me, and both he and the 
President of the State desired to give me full protection. 
The former published an article in the government journal 
severely reprimanding the priests and the friars, saying, with 

335 



Brazil. 

other things, that if the doctrines I taught were erratic, they 
should prove it by reason, and not by committing crimes. 

Showers of stones fell around me as I passed along the 
street, or struck the walls above my head; or missiles were 
launched at me through the open window as I sat in my house. 
One evening, a stone weighing a pound struck a pile of books 
within a few inches of my head. Excrement was also thrown 
in. Evidently these were the best and only arguments the 
priests had. But they who are without reason cannot appeal 
to reason and must build their house upon the quicksands of 
brute force and wrong. 

The priestly brigade first tried to frighten me from the 
town. This failing, they conspired to expel me by violence. 
But, unfortunately for the success of anything of the sort, 
the priest, while plotting to create a mob to deal with me, 
was overheard by a high official who warned him that if he 
should attempt to carry out his scheme, he would summon the 
military. It finally became so unsafe to leave my house with 
no one in charge, that I rented another large house conjointly 
with a family, which was a much more advantageous arrange- 
ment for me, and life was perhaps a little more secure. For 
a time, however, there was more or less disturbance at the 
house when meetings were being held, and persons wishing 
to attend the services, feared to do so. Finally, soldiers were 
detailed to guard the house. 

I went among the people every day with the Bible and 
other Gospel literature. One day, I sold a fine large Bible to 
a shoemaker for the equivalent of seventy-five cents. Calling 
upon this man two weeks later, he told me that friends from 
a distance had visited him and given him two dollars for his 
Bible. He therefore purchased another, which he disposed of 
also in a short time, and bought a third from me. 

I heard of a priest, who was probably an atheist, who 
bought three Bibles from a colporteur for three dollars and 
fifty cents, then traded them off; one for a cow, another for 
a horse, and the third for ten dollars cash. To obtain such 
a book from a priest, which would include his sanction, the 

336 



Brazil 

people will pay almost any price. As time passed, I had 
numerous interesting talks with many persons; and God, in 
His infinite goodness, gave me an increasing number of per- 
sonal friends, and friends of the Evangel. 

I found a cloth blackboard and colored crayons very useful 
in making God's message clear to the people, besides interest- 
ing and attractive. As the windows of my large room yawned 
wide open because of the heat, the blackboard was in full 
view of persons passing along the street, who often paused 
a moment to ask for an explanation of what they saw sketched 
upon it. 

What an unspeakable pleasure and satisfaction it is to 
open to the minds and hearts of men the treasures of God's 
holy Word ! — Especially to those who have never before heard 
it. When Jesus said to His disciples after pointing the woman 
of Samaria to the Light, " I have meat to eat that ye know not 
of," He uttered words of the profoundest significance. The 
joy and satisfaction of soul that He was experiencing, satisfied 
even His physical needs. There is nothing that I could desire 
more than to be again in the heart of Brazil — my adopted 
country — and engaged with all my heart in this delightful 
service. 



22 337 



Part IV. 

EXPEDITION 

TO 

BOROR6LAND. 



Chapter XXX. 

REMARKABLE PROVIDENCES.— THE MATTO 
GROSSO WILDS.— CATTLE RANCHES. 

I had been some months in Goyaz when, in the remarkable 
providences of God, the hour came, wholly unannounced, for 
me to begin another expedition to the haunts of the wild men. 

I have already mentioned that my journeys to visit the 
" children of the wilderness " were in every case the results 
of strange providences and the converging of chains of 
events the beginnings of which were as remote as the poles. 
The events which culminated in my undertaking the present 
expedition to the Bororo, were as follows : I had heard very 
interesting things of this powerful tribe whose hamlets are 
scattered over a wide territory lying many hundreds of miles 
to the west and southwest of the town of Goyaz, and hoped 
that I might some day be privileged to visit them, and perhaps 
also have the honor of planting the Gospel among them. While 
entertaining these thoughts, there appeared suddenly one 
day in Goyaz, a Brazilian traveler and explorer of high intelli- 
gence and wide experience, named Antonio Candido de Car- 

338 




The House in the Garden in Sao Paulo, where the Author stayed. 




The House that Michael Built. The Author sitting by Michael on his cattle-yard fence. 
See Chapter xxx. 



Brazil 

valho, who belonged to one of the best known and most in- 
fluential families of the region bordering on the Bororo terri- 
tory. He had traveled among the Bororo, was well acquainted 
with them and enjoyed their confidence ; and had come a great 
distance to Goyaz by horse to solicit from the government 
some agricultural implements for the Bororo as a step toward 
" civilizing " them. Though he knew not the Gospel, yet he 
was seeking the well-being of these needy people. By 
chance, I learned of his presence in the town. Visiting me 
at evening, by invitation, we liked each other at once; and 
for two hours indulged in a most enjoyable interchange of 
thoughts. He told me many things about the Bororo that 
interested me profoundly ; while I told him of what was being 
done, not merely to " civilize," but rather, to evangelize savage 
peoples in other parts of the world, which, in turn, interested 
him greatly. A cloth blackboard hung on the wall of the 
room where we sat on which I had sketched a pictorial rep- 
resentation of the Second Epistle of Peter, first chapter. Ob- 
serving this, he inquired, " What does that mean? " and when 
I explained it to him, he seemed much pleased. Finally, about 
ten o'clock, he said to me, " I wish very much that you would 
return with me to visit the Bororo. It would please me 
greatly to have you see them." He assumed that as I mani- 
fested deep interest in these primitive people, all my country- 
men, doubtless, would be equally interested. Would God it 
were true ! As I lacked the funds necessary to meet the heavy 
expenses of such an undertaking, I was compelled, regretfully, 
to decline this pressing invitation, saying that I cherished the 
hope of visiting the Bororo the next year. I was aware, never- 
theless, that it would be a great advantage to me to have the 
companionship of this man for such an enterprise. My ex- 
penses would be reduced one-half and he would be exceed- 
ingly helpful to me. 

He had been gone from my house but a few minutes when 
a sky-rocket announced the arrival of the mail. It is carried 
nearly four hundred miles on the backs of mules after leaving 
the railway terminus ; and its arrival is announced to the people 



339 



Brazil 

of the town by a dynamite rocket. Correspondence was 
at once placed in my hands from the Department of Ethnol- 
ogy of the Smithsonian Institution at Washington, D. C. 
asking for an ethnological collection from one or more of the 
aboriginal tribes of the great region of which the Bororo ter- 
ritory is a part. This correspondence was sent first to Dr. 
O. A. Derby in the city of Sao Paulo, who dispatched it to me 
with a letter saying that if I would undertake this work, he 
would place at my disposal immediately a sum of money suf- 
ficient to meet all my requirements, so that I might proceed 
without delay ; and desiring me to telegraph to him my ac- 
ceptance and the amount of money I would need. This 
remarkable conjunction of important events— the visit and 
invitation of the Brazilian explorer, and the arrival of letters 
from Washington and Sao Paulo at the same hour, besides 
other interesting circumstances — left me in no doubt as to the 
course I should pursue. I went at once to my new-found 
friend and informed him, much to his surprise and pleasure, 
that I would accompany him. The results of this journey 
proved conclusively that the enterprise had been divinely ar- 
ranged. I was enabled " to kill two birds with one stone," 
doing both missionary and scientific work, and at the same 
time to meet expenses independently of mission funds. 

While traveling among the civilized Brazilians, my com- 
panion, who seemed to be acquainted with nearly everybody, 
introduced me to the people, who treated me with much re- 
spect and attended to my words. I had also the satisfaction of 
seeing my companion himself choose voluntarily to become 
a follower of Christ. He said to me one day, " I have long 
known that the religion I followed was false and empty, but 
I knew of no other. My father was a sincere man, and I 
am sure he would have embraced this religion, had he known 
of it. My brothers, too, are upright men, and I believe they 
would embrace it, could they know about it. What would 
it cost to secure a teacher and establish a school at the village 
where my brothers live ? " Riding along one day, we saw a 
sapling that was doubled horizontally, like a coil of a steam 

340 



Brazil. 

radiator. " That is just like some people," said he. " They 
take a header this way, then another that way; at last, 
they plumb and go straight up." It was plain that he re- 
ferred to his own experience. 

His interest increasing, he said to me, " This is indeed the 
religion I have sought for years without knowing just what 
I wanted." It was like a treasure hid in a field which he 
had stumbled upon without realizing at first what he had 
found. Apparently God had long been preparing him to re- 
ceive the Gospel. He would spend hours reading the Bible 
when we were in camp, and read my Scripture pamphlet so 
many times that he wore out a copy. He lost no opportunity 
to recommend the Gospel to other people, saying, " This is 
the true and only religion, and just what we all need. I 
confess that I have lived all these years without any real 
religion, and all my countrymen are like me." A man at 
a village we visited telling him they were going to raise seven 
thousand dollars to build a new temple, he replied that they 
would better employ this money to build an evangelical 
church and school and to support trained teachers, assuring 
them that this would bring happiness and prosperity to their 
impoverished, semi-barbarous village. There never was a 
school of any kind in this particular village, except the school 
of idleness, vice and crime, which was always in session and 
attended by every one. Naturally, a strong bond of sympathy 
and Christian fellowship grew up between my companion and 
me as we rode along together day after day in friendly 
intimacy. 

We traveled about six hundred miles before we began to 
meet with the Bororo. Though this expedition was made dur- 
ing the season of heavy rains when horseback travel is most 
difficult and dangerous owing to swollen streams and inun- 
dated swamps, yet we were remarkably fortunate, and suf- 
fered few losses. We sometimes felt depressed after spending 
entire days in the eternal gloom of dense tropical forests and 
being drenched by frequent thunder-showers. We were also 
persecuted by numerous insects, including the large wood- 

341 



Brazil 

ticks that clung to us by dozens, and even forced their pro- 
bosces through our wet boots at the instep. Nevertheless, 
our travels were, on the whole, exceedingly interesting and 
enjoyable, and resulted in much profit. 

The third day of our journey, as we followed a wide open- 
ing through some woods, a deer came trotting diagonally across 
our path. Being in much need of meat for our long journey, 
Senhor Antonio drew a heavy, automatic revolver to shoot it; 
but in seizing the reins to steady his mule while he fired, he 
accidently discharged the weapon into his mount. The forty- 
four calibre bullet entered its head back of the right ear, and 
apparently lodged near the left eye. The poor beast reared and 
fell backward, nearly knocking down the horse I rode ; but 
it finally recovered itself and remained on its feet. A volume 
of blood spurted from the left nostril and we thought it would 
die at once. I was much distressed at this unfortunate event. 
The mule was not only a valuable animal, but to lose it would 
have seriously interfered with our undertaking. The saddle 
was quickly removed, while I hastened forward to halt the 
baggage train, which was in advance. Though it may appear 
very strange, I prayed as I rode that the mule's life might be 
saved. But why not ask the Author of all life to interpose in 
behalf of a beast as well as a human being? Let any one think 
what he will, the mule did not die ; and in a day or two it 
appeared well, though a little weak from loss of blood. 

The first few hundred miles of our journey was through 
regions inhabited by the " civilized " people engaged in cattle 
raising. No man had less than fifteen or twenty square miles 
of land, while many held hundreds and owned cattle by the 
thousands, and the dwellings were at times twenty or thirty 
miles apart. But we found the people everywhere, including 
the wealthiest cattle owners, living in poverty and squalor, 
and insufficiently nourished. We rode nearly two hundred 
miles without being able to obtain any beef — unless we pur- 
chased a whole animal — and the dwellings of the people, which 
were the color of the ground inside and out, stood in the midst 
of lakes of filth and were surrounded by disorderly hordes of 

342 



Brazil. 

domestic animals, as elsewhere described; while the women 
and children were filthy, bloodless and ignorant, and both their 
bodies and their garments were the shade of the ground. 
These people pass their days and die without ever knowing 
what it is to have a sound body, or a healthy, cultivated mind. 
We passed one night at a very large ranch, the owner of 
which had six thousand cattle, yet droves of cattle, hogs, 
goats, fowls and dogs were all about the house and some 
inside it; dead rats were under the floor, and the carcasses 
of animals taken in the chase were putrefying close to the 
house. Finding some lime, we made them sprinkle it on the 
floor to disinfect the house somewhat. They were ignorant, 
apparently, of the simplest rules of hygiene, and their olfac- 
tories seemed useless. 

It is the custom in these regions for parents, when a son 
reaches the age of eighteen or nineteen years, to select a 
wife for him and order him to marry, indicating the spot in 
their extensive territory where he may erect a rude habitation. 
Years afterward, the couple may be found living in a pig-sty 
such as their childhood was spent in, surrounded by a horde 
of squalid, anemic children. This has been their mode of 
life for many generations, and thus they will doubtless con- 
tinue to live until " The entrance of God's Word giveth light," 
never awaking to the fact that there is a higher and better 
life than that which they and their fathers have known. 

We were treated with genuine hospitality nearly every- 
where, regardless of how limited were the resources of the 
natives. One of the first things our host would do after our 
arrival, was to order a tray of small cups of coffee. This is 
not coffee that simmers all day over the fire. To prepare 
the coffee for use, it is roasted black in an iron pot, then 
pulverized as fine as flour in a wooden mortar; and finally, 
when the beverage is to be served, a little of this soot-like 
substance is thrown into a slender, closely-woven bag, and 
water, which is always kept boiling, is poured over it. Hence, 
we were always offered freshly made coffee. A cup of this 
deliciously refreshing drink was always much appreciated after 

343 



Brazil 

the weariness and exhaustion of a long ride in the hot sun. 
Moreover, conversation is much more animated and cordial 
when the company is sipping coffee. The people gave us 
milk and eggs gladly when they had these products, and 
declined to accept any pay; but we always rewarded their 
generosity with a copy of the Bible, or a nicely bound Testa- 
ment, which they accepted with evident gratification. One 
day, a man raced after us on horseback eight or ten miles to 
obtain a Testament. 

At large cattle ranches when fifty or one hundred calves 
were shut up all night so that milk could be obtained from the 
cows in the morning, the tranquillity of the night was broken 
by a tumult of sounds. Naturally, these cows and calves 
lowed ceaselessly, which, in turn, caused the rest of the herd to 
unchain their voices in sympathy. The resulting noise was 
scarcely less than one tremendous, prolonged roar, lasting 
throughout the night, and increasing in volume as the night 
advanced. 

Occasionally, we passed the night at ranches where the 
people were suspicious of strangers and feared to shelter us 
in their dwellings. Halting at a place of this kind, once, just 
at nightfall when a storm was approaching, and asking to be 
lodged for the night, we were directed to the hogshed. But 
I declined to occupy this filthy place, saying that we would 
pitch our tents. However, as our baggage train had not yet 
arrived, the proprietor of the ranch ventured to invite us to 
sit down in the house while awaiting it. Soon, the rain began 
to fall, so he requested us to unsaddle our horses and bring 
the saddles inside. The baggage arriving shortly afterward, 
our host could not well avoid asking us to bring all our effects 
into the house, and finally, to remain there all night. Thus 
by degrees, we gained a suitable shelter. 

We traversed one region where it was difficult to obtain 
corn for our horses, as the plantations had suffered greatly 
the previous season from the ravages of wild beasts, espe- 
cially the capibara, and of insects. Without suspecting it, 
we pitched our tents one day close to a colony of the de- 

344 




In the Heart of the Wilderness. 




Camping in the Wilderness far away from the Haunts of Men. 



See Chapter xxx. 



Brazil. 

structive foraging ants, which set to work during the night 
to cut our tents, saddles and other articles to pieces, damaging 
the saddles most, which they would have destroyed had they 
begun work earlier in the night. They work in small circles 
until they cut through the leather or cloth, taking out discs 
the size of a dime. 

Another time, we halted for the night at a lonely, exposed 
place where we found a roof, only, resting on posts ten or 
fifteen feet high and covering a platform of poles five feet 
above the ground. Taking shelter here, we suspended our 
hammocks above the platform. But during the night a cold 
wind and rain swept through our retreat, and we rose at 
dawn wet and chilled and feeling far from buoyant. The 
sun, however, quickly dispelling the clouds and mists, warmed 
and cheered us. During the morning's ride, we came upon 
a large quantity of excellent fruit called by the natives gud- 
birdba, of which there are several varieties. It grows larger 
than a cherry on a bush similar to the currant. Dismount- 
ing, we enjoyed a feast. 

We passed the following night in a saw-mill that repre- 
sented the mechanical science of a remote age. It was oper- 
ated by water which was conducted around the hillside in a 
small trench from a stream, and caused an overshot wheel to 
revolve slowly. Everything in the construction of this mill 
was made on the spot by hand, except possibly the saw, 
which made but three or four strokes per minute. The build- 
ing was open on all sides, but we found it a clean, pleasant 
lodging place, though cattle again tried to lick away our 
effects. 

We slept in our tents the next night at a picturesque spot 
in the wilds miles distant from any human dwelling. It 
was a beautiful moonlight night; and a crystalline brook 
which gurgled and laughed near our tents, afforded us a de- 
lightfully refreshing bath after the heat and dust of travel. 
What a peculiar exultation of spirit steals over one, and how 
joyously free from care one feels when passing the evening and 
the radiant night at one of these quiet, charming spots in 

345 



Brazil 

the bosom of nature, remote from the squalid haunts of men 
with their distracting sights and sounds, and alone with God 
to commune with Him heart to heart! What satisfaction of 
soul it gives! If in the smoke and tumult of the Christian 
warfare, one should feel like saying with the psalmist: 
" As pants the hart for water brooks, so panteth my soul 
after thee, O God. My soul thirsteth for God, for the 
living God ? " One can also say when worshipping God alone 
in a secluded sanctuary of nature, " I am abundantly satisfied 
with the fatness of thy house ; and thou makest me to drink of 
the rivers of thy pleasure." 

In order to escape as much as possible the difficulties and 
dangers attendant upon fording and swimming swift streams 
that were now swollen because of the frequent and heavy 
rains, we followed the great divide between the Amazon 
and La Plata river systems nearly all the way to Bororoland. 
Though this was the longer road, it was the safest. 

It was a constant delight to me as we rode along day after 
day and week after week through this boundless, untamed 
world, viewing the novel and continually changing scenes, 
and drinking in the delicious, exhilarating air of this land upon 
which the smile of heaven seems to rest forever. Each day 
was distinct from every other day and brought to us so many 
new scenes and unique experiences, and enriched so rapidly 
the repositories of memory that a really brief space of time 
seemed long — very long; weeks seemed months and months 
years. 

We had the pleasure of visiting one day an interesting 
subterranean cavern, and natural bridge across the little river 
Corrente, over which our trail led. The river had bored 
through a hill of rock at this place, excavating a large, tunnel- 
like cavern through which the water rushed, roaring and 
seething. 

At length, we reached the decadent little village of Rio 
Bonito, where we remained several days. Just before en- 
tering the village, we met a youth on horseback with whom 
my companion was acquainted, and pausing to speak with 
him, we inquired, "What is the news from the village?" 

346 



Brazil 

" O, nothing much," he replied, " except that Saint Augus- 
tine murdered his father-in-law." 

" For what reason did he do that? " 

" Well, he was living in idleness on the old man who 
rebuked him and insisted that he go to work." 

When this degenerate appearing youth had passed on, I 
was informed that once he and two companions had slain a 
man named Saint Bento, who was himself an assassin, by 
shooting him while he slept in his hammock at night. They 
were arrested, but escaped punishment by giving the judge 
two hundred dollars. 

Human life seems to be of little value in Brazil, as in 
all lands where the " Light of the World " does not shine, 
and assassins usually go unpunished. The execution of the 
laws is extremely lax everywhere. Sometimes, the murderer 
does not even leave the village where the crime was com- 
mitted, feeling himself in little danger of the law. If appre- 
hended, he may easily purchase his freedom. Everything de- 
pends upon the social and political standing of both the slayer 
and his victim. If the slayer has friends in the seats of power, 
while the slain one has few or weak friends, the former has 
nothing to fear. When a homicide is committed in the far in- 
terior, for instance, and the murderer, who happens to be 
friendless, flies for his life through the boundless wastes, the 
relatives of the victim will probably not look to the military 
police to pursue him. There is no inducement for these men to 
engage in such a chase, for they receive no reward ; moreover, 
as they belong to the lowest class of the people, they may 
not possess sufficient knowledge and intelligence to track a 
criminal, even should they care to do so. Instead, individuals 
skilled in tracking beasts and men through the wilds, are 
employed to pursue and overtake the fugitive. After track- 
ing him perhaps two hundred miles or more, they at length 
overhaul him and march him back to the outskirts of the 
town where the crime was committed. Then they send word 
to the murdered man's friends, " We have the killer. Do 
you wish his ears? " If they reply, " Yes," he will be quietly 



347 



Brazil 

despatched during the night and an ear brought to them, as 
a proof that the work has been properly done and that the 
pursuers may claim their reward. It will not be reported, of 
course, that the criminal was slain, but instead, that he com- 
mitted " suicide." If the relatives of the slain one should not 
wish the ears of the murderer, he will be delivered up to the 
police and legally prosecuted — but only so far, usually, as the 
victim's family pays all cost of prosecution. A shooting af- 
fray occurred back of our house the first night we were at 
the Rio Bonito village, but no one was injured. We stayed 
in a vacant house and had our meals brought to us by a resi- 
dent family, which is a common practice in Brazil. 

We were kindly received by the people, and held two 
Gospel meetings in our own house, at both of which the at- 
tendance was large, many persons remaining standing just 
outside the door and windows during the entire service. They 
listened to the sermons with respectful and thoughtful at- 
tention, and seemed much interested and favorably impressed. 
Even the discourse on image worship, which I felt led of 
God's spirit to present, was well received. The subject was 
not treated in a controversal spirit, but as if we were all 
seeking in the Spirit of Christ to know His Will. God 
seemed to have prepared the minds of the people for this 
message, and they expressed a desire for more meetings. But 
these services aroused the ire of the village priest. When he 
learned that " Satan's emissary " had come and was sowing 
tares with much success in his field, he was jealous as well 
as angry, saying that the people would listen to me for hours, 
but would not listen to him fifteen minutes. This was not 
strange as he was a dissolute, ludicrous character, having 
three females instead of men for his traveling attendants, 
whom he maltreated ; and in addition, behaved in a brutal 
manner toward his female parishoners, tearing their skirts, 
yelling in their ears, using insulting language, and ordering 
them to jump through windows. The priest at the next village 
was a similar character. He employed much of his time in 
wrecking families ; and boasted that as soon as he " got to- 

348 




The Barn-like Temple of the Rio Bonito Village. 




The Village of Rio Bonito in Southwestern Goyaz. 



See Chapter xxx. 



Brazil. 

gether enough copper " he would abandon the priesthood. 
Let us hope that he soon realized his ambition. Leaving Rio 
Bonito, we passed two or three nights at very large cattle- 
ranches. Though the proprietor of one of these owned sev- 
eral thousand cattle and a county or two of land, yet his house 
was in a sea of mud in which a horde of domestic animals 
were wallowing and various carcasses were decomposing; 
while inside the large house there was dirt enough to shovel, 
and swarms of bedbugs and other vermin infested the place. 
But as we slept in hammocks, we swung clear of both dirt and 
vermin. The fleas are usually the greatest tormentors of hu- 
man beings in these abodes. Owing to the ravages of the 
" penetrating " variety and to parental neglect, I have seen 
the children of the poor with scarcely a toe-nail, and some- 
times crippled for life. Hogs also are great sufferers from 
this insect. The " irritating " variety — though both kinds are 
certainly extremely irritating — are athletes, par excellence. 
They are the champion high jumpers of creation. Having a 
great fondness for beds, they harass the human victim all 
night without a truce. I occupied once, a large room which 
had been used as a store, but had stood vacant several months ; 
and hundreds of these tiny persecutors that had been com- 
pelled to fast during all these months, swarmed into the bed 
thirsting for red blood with a maddening thirst. Brazilians 
avoid entering a place like this until after they have driven a 
goat in. The famine maddened insects spring instantly upon 
the unfortunate scape-goat, and when the brute is let out, it 
carries out all the fleas with it. 

We were entertained by the dona at the big ranch as the 
senhor proprietor was absent. She was a devout heathen, which 
accounted for the condition of the house, and talked a steady 
stream, as if seeking to drown us miles deep in a verbal ocean 
and prevent our speaking to her of the Gospel. This conduct 
is not uncommon among these people, for they fear that they 
will become fatally contaminated if they even hear the Gospel. 
Nevertheless, my companion recounted his Christian exper- 
ience, and we left with the family portions of God's Word. 

349 



Brazil 

We crossed the Rio Bonito basin, which is seventy or 
eighty miles broad, ascended the plateau, crossed it, and de- 
scended again into the Araguaya river basin. There is a 
spot here where the ground is strewn with magnetic rock, 
and another where the rock is saturated with oil. One day, 
we crossed a bridge-like ridge less than seventy feet wide, 
on one side of which the waters were coursing to the Amazon, 
and on the other, to the Rio della Plata. Table-mountains 
having vertical sides stand about here and there in the basins 
of both the Rio Bonito and the Araguaya, as if they had been 
islands in primeval lakes. 



350 




A Subterranean Cavern and Natural Bridge over the Little River Corrientes. 



See Chapter xx 



Chapter XXXI. 

THE BORDERS OF BOROr6lAND.— FORESTS AND 
THE FORCES OF NATURE. 

We dismounted at a ranch on the borders of Bororoland 
where, a few months before, the ranch owner and his men had 
wantonly and cruelly massacred fourteen harmless, helpless 
Bororo men, women and children, who worked for him, living 
upon his vast estate and under his protection. This was part 
of a wicked, idiotic plan to rid this particular region of the 
Bororo. These ranchers had induced the governor of the 
state of Goyaz, who had declared that he had nothing for the 
aborigines but bullets, to send a detachment of soldiers to 
murder a certain group of the Bororo, while they themselves 
slaughtered the other little group. The ranchers succeeded 
in executing their part of the horrid crime, but the other 
group got wind of the approach of the military in time to 
escape. This atrocity was entirely without excuse. These 
men, calling themselves the " civilized ones," say that the 
poor aborigines are " wild beasts of the forest." But the 
reader can judge which of the two are most worthy of the 
name. A prominent Brazilian official told me once that a 
rubber exporting company, wishing to rid a certain district 
of its primitive inhabitants, gave them poisoned rum. 

The great table standing between the Bonito and Araguaya 
river valleys is level and nearly treeless. One day, while 
crossing this broad, lonely expanse, we encountered a solitary 
bullock, which my companion said was suffering from a 

351 



Brazil 

disease called o seco — the dry. It is a kind of consumption, 
and the flesh of the animal wastes slowly away during a period 
of one or two years until nothing remains but a skeleton with 
a leathery hide drawn over it. Even the viscera consumes 
away with the rest of the body; and when the brute dies, 
there is so little else than hair and bones that the buzzards 
are not interested in the carcass. We saw a carcass lying in 
the trail which the buzzards had not touched. If taken in 
time, the sick animal can be cured by being driven to new 
pasture and given plenty of salt. Another disease, which is 
very destructive of horses, occurs in the Cuyaba region. It 
attacks the spine near the kidneys, causing it to decay. No 
remedy is known. My companion lost a large number of 
horses and mules by this disease. 

We saw, one day, a great ant bear which had come up 
out of the jungle to dig into ant-hills and feed. It cannot 
run faster than a good dog-trot, and its gait suggests running 
on three stilts, for its feet are much better adapted for digging 
than for locomotion. As it runs, the body rocks up and down, 
the prolonged snout rising and falling like the jib-boom of 
a vessel riding the waves, while the great hairy tail, which 
it curls over its back for an umbrella when rain is falling, 
wig-wags back and forth. Wishing to secure a photograph 
of the beast, we tried to tire it, or get it to face the dogs. 
Failing this, my companion seized it by the tail as it ran 
by a clump of bushes, hoping to hold it a moment, but he 
had to quickly relinquish his hold. It embraces its foe when 
grappled with, and will rend him asunder, digging its 
claws into his back. It is a powerful animal, and has been 
known to kill even the tiger when attacked by it, though it 
is a death-grapple for it as well. 

As the abodes of the ranchers became less and less, we 
had, with increasing frequency, to pass the night in our 
tents in the wilderness, leagues distant from human dwellings. 
Storms, too, burst upon us, and at times the darkness was so 
intense that it could almost be felt. One with a nature at all 
sensitive, could not fail to be strangely impressed when pass- 

352 




A Partial View of the Great Falls of the Araguaya. 




Looking down the River below the Great Falls of the Araguaya. 



See Chapter 



Brazil 

ing a tempestuous night in these savage solitudes listening 
to the moaning and wailing of the wind through the forest 
like a thousand weird, ^Eolian harps, the incessant cannonade 
of the celestial batteries and the musketry of the rain-drops. 
We crossed the Araguaya river by means of a bridge, at 
a point forty miles from its source, where it is less than 
forty feet broad, though deep. It cuts through tilted rocks 
near here and is forced into a channel but one foot wide. 
We visited two cataracts of the Araguaya some distance below 
this crossing, which are some thirty miles apart. We esti- 
mated that at the first three thousand cubic yards of water 
rolled over the cliff every minute and dropped sixty feet; 
and at the second, twelve thousand cubic yards of water fell 
about one hundred fifty feet each minute. In visiting the 
latter cataract, we arrived, first, at a point a short distance 
below the falls where they were not visible owing to the forest 
and jutting cliffs. Leaving our horses, we descended to the 
bottom of the chasm by climbing and sliding over great 
blocks of stone and making short stops by catching hold of 
trees and bushes. Standing at length upon some great 
boulders at the water's edge, we saw all about us an awe- 
inspiring spectacle. The waters, churned to madness, rolled 
like waves of the sea and with a deafening roar over the 
huge masses of rocks that formed the river bed; a dense 
arboreal growth of perpetual verdure robed and draped both 
sides of the chasm ; the stormy sky and the deep shadows 
caused by the depth of the abyss and the low declining sun; 
all combined to form one of the wildest. and most romantic 
scenes that I had ever beheld. After silently contemplating 
the wonderful, tumultuous scene a short time, we reascended 
our great natural staircase to the top of the chasm ; and being 
assured that the cataract itself was " very " near and " easy 
to reach," and that we still had time to see it before sunset, 
we started in that direction. But we little knew how diffi- 
cult was our undertaking. We had to pass through a terrible 
cornfield belonging to the cattle grower who owned this 
territory. About the only tools of the ordinary Brazilian 

23 353 



Brazil 

agriculturist is an axe and a grubbing hoe. Preparatory to 
planting a crop, he slashes down two or three acres of forest, 
allows it to dry during the rainless months, then burns it. 
But there always remains a more or less dense network of 
blackened trunks and limbs, among which he simply plants 
the corn without further preparation of the soil. The cornfield, 
therefore, that we had to traverse was a tangled mass of 
black, slimy and slippery logs, limbs and poles that were sus- 
pended higher than our heads, and stumps of every shape and 
size. Up through this network bristled the corn ten or 
twelve feet high, and over the corn, logs, limbs and stumps, 
climbed a dense and almost impenetrable mass of vines, while 
everything was dripping with water from the recent rains. 
Through, over, and under, this mass of logs, limbs and 
stumps, crawling, climbing, sliding, and practicing aerial rope 
walking, and through the corn and vines we crept and carved 
our way; and as we approached the falls, a storm of cold 
spray added to our discomfiture. 

Arrived at our objective point, blackened and bedraggled, 
we saw before us a sublime and dreadful scene, far beyond 
my powers to describe : — The rushing, boiling and swirling 
waters above the falls, the headlong leap over the precipice 
into the deep, dark abyss, the rocky sides of which are per- 
pendicular at this point, the ceaseless thunderings of the 
cataract, the torrents of spray, the deepening gloom of ap- 
proaching night, the lonely wilderness all about us! — I felt 
almost speechless in the presence of this wonderful and awful 
display of the forces and the sublimity of nature. In the 
center of the cataract was a huge column of rock crowned with 
bushes, in the sides of which, in the midst of the fearful, 
thundering torrent, hundreds of bats made their home, ab- 
solutely safe from all enemies. Hoping to secure a photograph 
of the falls, notwithstanding the twilight, I set up the camera 
under a big rain cloak, held by my companions, who raised 
it for a moment while the exposure was being made. Dark- 
ness coming on rapidly, we had much difficulty in extracating 
ourselves from our almost uncanny situation. 

354 




The Basin of a Primeval Lake, where the Rio Vermelho takes its rise, now the site 

of a Primitive Forest. 




See Chapter xxxi. 



Eating Christmas Dinner. 



Brazil 

The following day, we turned aside from the trail to visit a 
beautiful cascade where the water descended about one hun- 
dred feet in seven jumps. 

The Christmas season came and went while I was on this 
expedition. What a remarkable Christmas it was! How 
almost infinitely removed it was from the Christmas seasons 
I had passed in other days, the memory of which seemed like 
a strange dream ! We were in the height of summer, and 
vegetation, displaying abounding life, was growing with mar- 
velous luxuriance. The world of natural life, arrayed in its 
magnificent bridal robes, was certainly in harmony with the 
birthday of the Prince of Life. 

Early in the day, I rode several miles over splendid graz- 
ing lands to visit a charming waterfall in the heart of the 
forest, the trees joined hands across it, forming an arbor 
of dense foliage beautifully draped with climbing vines, and 
the little stream flowed ever in eternal shadows. Enveloped 
in the shadows of a primeval forest at this delightful spot, 
a paradise of Nature, and listening to the soft music of 
splashing waters, far away from the haunts of men, we seemed 
to have left the careworn, excited world forever behind us. 

My Christmas dinner, consisting of a fish, caught at the 
foot of the little falls just described, and a whole rib of beef 
together with a part of the backbone, was eaten at sunset while 
sitting on a box outside of our tent. 

Near our camp was another pretty little waterfall. About 
five feet below the edge of the ledge over which the water 
dropped in a broad, thin sheet, a bench of rock jutted out 
just right for one to stand upon and take a delightful pour- 
bath, which was indulged in twice each day. 

An incident occurred Christmas morning that gave us 
some feeling of insecurity. A venomous reptile killed a valu- 
able dog of ours within one hundred feet of our tent. It was 
bitten on the neck, and had apparently fallen at once. 

Leaving here, we followed for about one hundred miles 
the lofty plateau dividing the great river systems of the north 
and of the south. The edge of this great table is nearly 

355 



Brazil. 

everywhere precipitous, and in many places, perpendicular. 
The basins below are, for the most part, fairly level, while here 
and there colossal towers arise. After a storm, the air 
is amazingly clear and transparent. This, and the altitude 
of our position, enabled us to see enormous distances in 
every direction, and to look down upon a stupendous expanse 
of wild, rugged, unexplored and unknown world, that was 
scarred and furrowed, torn and upheaved by the storms, con- 
vulsions and subsidences of countless ages. Our view of the 
earth was like gazing at the moon through a powerful tele- 
scope, and beholding a hemisphere of mountains and hills, 
plateaux, valleys and chasms. At one place, the Rio Vermelho 
has tunneled under a mountain and one can look down into 
appalling depths ; while at other exceedingly interesting lo- 
calities on the edge of this Giant's table, some of which 
we visited New Year's day, this river has made prodigious 
excavations. Once, standing on the edge of a broad, vertical- 
walled gorge and shouting toward the opposite wall, we 
listened to a splendid echo which bounded and rebounded, 
again and again, zigzagging, as it descended the gorge to the 
open basin. We also saw this day, numerous rain-storms 
raging around us at the same moment, some near and others 
remote. This was one of the most peculiar and interesting 
New Year's Days that I have ever experienced. 

Steamboats could ascend from the Amazon and from the 
river della Plata to within a few miles of where we stood. 
There are rapids to overcome on the Amazon side, 'tis true, 
but none on the Rio della Plata side. This would give nearly 
three thousand miles of navigation each way from the divide. 

We had now left civilization behind and were getting 
into the land of the Bororo. Our New Year's encampment was 
close to the first small village of this tribe that we had yet 
seen, and these simple dwellers of the wilderness, wearing 
nothing but a coat of red grease, thronged about us all the 
time we remained here, gazing at us curiously, for we were 
no less a freak to them than they were to us. It was while 
here that I first heard them sing the bakorord, the wild man's 

356 




Christmas Day in the Heart of the Primitive Forest. 



See Chapter xxxi. 



Brazil. 

evening anthem, which will be described in future pages. We 
were at our camp at the time, a quarter of a mile distant from 
the savage chorus. It was indeed wild music, and an appro- 
priate production of the wild ones and the wilderness. It was 
hard to believe that this fusillade of uncouth, alarming sounds 
issued from human throats. This savage music resembled, 
somewhat, the remarkable and uncanny sounds produced by 
coyotes when heard at night from a distance. 

Doubtless these nude, unclean savages would appear ex- 
tremely repulsive and unhuman to most civilized people, yet 
I could but regard them as simple, overgrown, neglected chil- 
dren ; and finding myself again among such rude, needy beings, 
I experienced a pleasure and satisfaction which I cannot 
describe, and inwardly thanked God, Who, in His gracious 
providence, had led me again to their haunts after a long de- 
tention among a more advanced race. Could I be among them 
once more, my cup of joy would be full. 

Two naked Bororo accompanied us as helpers during the 
remainder of our journey to one of the chief villages of the 
tribe. The world about us became more and more wild, rugged 
and inhospitable as we advanced, and the difficulties and dan- 
gers of travel increased. Moreover, the myriads of the insect 
world seemed to resent our encroachment into their domains, 
and fell upon us with ever-increasing numbers and ferocity; 
while the elements, too, appeared to join forces with the rest of 
Nature, for storms occurred, not only daily, but several times 
during twenty-four hours. One night, we found ourselves 
encamped upon the " private grounds " of a colony of de- 
structive foraging ants, which set to work promptly to cut 
us to pieces ; and when we halted at noon for breakfast, some 
days, we were set upon by hordes of a stupid, sluggish, stirig- 
less bee, called " father of honey " by the Brazilians, but 
known to science as the Melipona fasculata, of which there 
are more than fifty varieties in Brazil. They were attracted 
to us by the perspiration of ourselves and our beasts, and also 
by the odor of our food. They did not attack us in a single 
swarm, but came to us individually and gradually, until quart 

357 



Brazil. 

measures of them had massed themselves upon our saddle 
blankets, and upon whatever else took their fancy. They did 
not bite, but lit upon us and dragged themselves, worm- 
like, over our flesh, down our necks and up under our hats, 
into our eyes, ears, noses and mouths, and dropped by threes 
and fours into our food as we were taking a mouthful. To 
kill them had no effect in reducing their numbers, and it was 
impossible to escape them. When crushed, their bodies ex- 
haled an offensive effluvium, or a nauseating taste, if masti- 
cated. We were therefore compelled to make haste in pre- 
paring and eating our food, else we would have been driven 
nearly to madness. We were told that there are places where 
it is almost impossible to take food during daylight because 
of these pests. 

Our route led us more and more into primeval forests, 
where, in the eternal shadows, we were completely engulfed 
in the endless masses of thorny, tangled undergrowth, drip- 
ping with water. Though my companion had previously cut 
a trail through here, it was largely taken possession of again 
by the forest; therefore, we were continually curried and har- 
rowed from head to foot, and had to perform constantly acro- 
batic feats, or practice rough riding, in order to escape being 
dragged from our horses, while our clothing reverted rapidly 
to lint, and big, ugly carapatos clung to our boots by dozens. 
Moreover, hornets had built their nests, Chinese-lantern-like, 
thickly along the trail ; and when we disturbed these nests — 
for we were seldom aware of their presence until we had dis- 
turbed them — the infuriated insects invariably inspired our 
beasts with renewed energy, besides touching us up a little. 
Therefore, owing to these and other reasons, we sometimes 
finished the day's march feeling exhausted and low spirited. 

One day, as we emerged from the woods into an open 
swail, we came suddenly upon a family of eight rheas — an 
old father and mother and six children. They squatted first 
into the grass to hide themselves, but conscious at once that 
they were not sufficiently hidden, they sprang up again on 
their long legs and made off rapidly, the old folk hanging in 
the rear until the children were safe. 

358 



Brazil 

The same day, we descended through the forest into a deep, 
narrow valley, then up the precipitous side of a mountain 
having six or seven terraces, descending, finally, into the 
basin of the Rio Vermelho, which is covered by a dense forest, 
and passing close to an immense rock called the Tower of 
Antonico, which rises vertically to a height of five or six 
hundred feet. We were ascending and descending and cut- 
ting our way all day, encountering everywhere the beaten 
runways of wild beasts, such as tapirs, pigs, capibaras and 
jaguars. 

About evening, we arrived at another small encampment 
of the Bororo by the Rio Vermelho. As we approached the 
cluster of huts, we were greeted by a volley of college yells y or 
war-whoops, given by the Bororo in honor of their two fellow 
tribesmen, who were accompanying us, and of my companion. 
We remained here until morning, passing the night in one of 
the savage huts. It was littered with rubbish, but we got the 
natives to clean up a little, then to sprinkle some clean sand 
around on the ground. This work was done by the females. 

This was an extremely wild appearing spot. The some- 
what open space in which the few primitive residences were 
clustered, was shaggy with a low growth of bushes and trees, 
and hemmed in closely on all sides by a dense, unbroken 
virgin forest; while in seemingly perfect harmony with these 
savage, austere, though wildly picturesque surroundings, 
were the nude, brightly painted, uncouth appearing human 
beings who existed here, their long, black, gum-matted hair 
flowing over their shoulders. One could not fail to be pro- 
foundly impressed when contemplating the strange, awe-in- 
spiring picture of these children of Nature nestling, like Adams 
and Eves and their progenies, in the bosom of wild, unsubdued 
Mother Nature, exceedingly remote from civilization and al- 
most as untouched by it as the Cave Dwellers. The red, earth- 
charged torrent of the Rio Vermelho flowed through and 
added to the wild beauty of this Paradise of Nature. It was 
at hightide at the time of our visit, and many varieties of 
excellent fish sported in shoals in its turbid waters. The 

359 



Brazil. 

savages were surfeited with fish, for we saw heaps of ten 
and twenty-pound specimens lying in their huts. This was 
their season, not only of plenty, but of super-abundance; 
nevertheless, since they preserve nothing for the season of 
scarcity, their feast was likely to be followed by a partial fam- 
ine. It was a great treat to us to have an abundance of fresh, 
succulent fish for supper and breakfast. 

A little girl of the village, having been ill of fever for 
some weeks, her father begged my companion, when we ar- 
rived, to request me to give her some medicine, for they 
thought me a conjurer. Calling her to me, I put a quinine 
tablet into her mouth and gave her a draught of pure coffee. 
She took the medicine readily because her father had com- 
manded her to take it. Usually, these people will not eat 
anything we offer them until they have first seen us eat 
a portion of it. They fear it may be either poisoned or be- 
witched. I gave the child a second dose the following morn- 
ing. This broke up the fever, for I heard some weeks after- 
ward that she was well again and growing fleshy. Doubtless 
the savages now consider me a great medicine man. The 
child in question was loved and esteemed by her parents, in 
proof of which they had daubed her little body with gum 
from the waist up, then stuck on a coat of white feathers ; and 
finally, having rubbed a mass of red, putty-like gum into her 
front hair, they plaited over this a solid layer of brilliant 
crimson feathers plucked from the breast of the macaw. 

As we journeyed the next day, skirting the Rio Vermelho, 
we met with an accident that seriously affected our food 
supply. One of our mules that was conveying two small 
bags of sugar, got too far in advance with some loose horses, 
and plunged with them into a stream that was usually dry, 
but which was now a raging torrent because of the recent 
rains. All were swept away down stream, but the horses suc- 
ceeded in scrambling out, despite the network of vegetation 
that covered the bank down into the water. But the mule, 
because of its burden, could not get out, and was carried down 
stream. Our muleteers rushed up, and slipping instantly out 

360 



Brazil 

of their shirts and trousers, plunged into the water and swam 
rapidly with the current. Soon, they saw the mule's ears 
appear above the water as it was drowning, and succeeded 
in reaching it; and finally, with much labor, in rescuing it 
from the water. But the burden it carried was left in the 
water. The two naked Bororo who were accompanying us, 
now became very useful to us. They are as much in their 
native element in the water as on the land. Diving, they 
explored the bed of the stream for some distance, search- 
ing for the lost baggage, but succeeded in finding one bag 
only of what had been sugar. It was now a sack of molasses. 
Having, with much difficulty, gotten all our effects across 
the angry little stream, we pushed on two miles further to 
the nearest opening in the woods, where we camped for the 
night and tried to convert our bag of syrup into sugar again, 
and save this much from the wreck, for the loss was a serious 
one to us since we could not replace it. We got one of the 
Bororo to carry the bag of molasses on his bare back. This 
pleased him hugely, and he grinned from ear to ear as he 
trudged along scraping off with his finger and licking the 
sweetness that oozed through the bag. He was besmeared 
with treacle from head to foot when we reached our camping 
place. 



361 



Chapter XXXII. 

LIFE AMONG THE BOROR6.— EYED CONSTANTLY 
BY A HORDE OF NUDE SAVAGES.— ASTONISH- 
ING MAKE-UPS. — PRIMITIVE HOUSEKEEP- 
ING AND SANITATION.— HORTICULTURE. 
— FOODS. — VEGETABLE COWS. — A 
WONDERFUL PALM. 

After nearly two months of horseback riding and camp- 
ing, we arrived at the confluence of the river Pogiibu, or 
Ponte de Pedra, and the Rio Vermelho, which is about forty- 
miles north of the junction of the former river with the 
Sao Laurengo. Here, we found a large Bororo village, called 
the Ta Dare Mano Paro — potato bank — where we remained 
several weeks, camping in a stake-walled, palm-branch roofed 
hut that had been erected a quarter of a mile from the Indian 
village by my companion. We had to cross the river Pogiibu, 
which we did in a small, dugout canoe made by Senhor An- 
tonio, and swam our horses over. It is about two hundred 
yards wide at this point, deep, and has a strong current. A 
heavy rain storm broke just as we were within a few hundred 
yards of our destination, so we rushed our entire cavalcade 
right into the big, open hut. 

When our arrival became known at the primitive metrop- 
olis, and it was known instantly, our hut began to fill with 
our nude and painted fellow beings of all ages and both sexes, 
who came to observe us and to examine all the marvelous 
things that we had brought from our wonderful, and to them, 
enchanted world. They flocked in upon us regularly at dawn 

362 



Brazil 

each day during the weeks that we remained in their vicinity, 
and stayed by us faithfully until dark ; and though coming 
and going continually, we had always a full house. If I 
opened a trunk, they were on the alert to peer into it, and to 
handle whatever struck their fancy. When we ate, every 
mouthful of food we took and our manner of eating; or if 
we wrote, or conversed, or photographed, or made our toilet, 
our every act was observed with the closest attention and com- 
mented upon in muttering tones by the horde of naked sav- 
ages that encircled us, of which the women and children 
formed the outer ring. 

They sat or lounged upon our boxes, benches and tables, 
or what served as a table, leaned against the stake walls of 
our hut, sat cross-legged on dry ox-hides on the ground, or 
upon flat stones or slabs of wood, or squatted around our 
pot of food as it boiled at the camp-fire, eyeing it hungrily, 
always leaving a patch of red grease on anything they sat 
upon or reclined against. A few dozed occasionally; some 
smoked when they could get a bit of tobacco; others roasted 
hunks of beef at our fire, or lazily picked off and ate the 
kernels from a roasted ear of corn ; several nibbled pieces 
of the heart of a dwarf palm; while others, the boys, slowly 
devoured bits of fish that had been roasted black, peeling 
back the skin and scales as they ate; or amused themselves 
shooting with rude bows and arrows at a stump just outside 
our hut. The men gossiped a little among themselves in 
gutteral sounds, looking vacantly into space as expressionless 
as a professional gambler, and never once glancing toward 
the one addressed; or else asked us a few questions in the 
limited language that we knew in common. They would 
sit for hours at a time in every conceivable position and dis- 
tortion of the body, uttering scarcely a word. 

They are very fond of tobacco, and resorted to various 
tricks to obtain a small piece. Whenever they did any work 
for us, or made a trade, they invariably demanded a piece of 
tobacco from my companion in part payment. Besides trad- 
ing, they availed themselves of numerous expedients to obtain 

363 



Brazil 

articles from us without offering us anything in exchange. 
One would say, " Bororo, headache — handkerchief, red " — 
Meaning, my head aches; give me a red handkerchief to tie 
around it. Or, " Boe sick — tobacco," — I am sick. Give me a 
piece of tobacco to make me well. Or, again, " Boe pursue 
tapir — catch him not. Give tobacco." At other times, they 
sought to obtain things on credit, saying, " Bororo, bring " — 
I will bring you something. But they usually forgot " to 
bring." Sometimes they tried a little flattery. One day a 
chief man came to me saying : " Captain " — myself — " good — 
Captain very good. Bororo cry when Captain go away. 
Bororo ask Captain not go." But this was largely to pave the 
way to ask for something. When I had to refuse them and 
they seemed displeased, I said to them: "Bororo, good; 
Bororo, very good. Captain, bad — very bad." They always 
hastened to say in reply to this, " No, no ; Captain, good — 
very good." 

When fish became scarce and a hunting expedition had 
not resulted successfully, and they were, consequently, with- 
out food, they came to us acting as if they longed to become 
our slaves forever. After much self-abnegation, they would 
say, timidly, " Boe tapira," — I like beef. Tapira is their word 
for cattle, cow, bullock or beef. But when they made a good 
haul of fish, their demeanor underwent an entire change, 
and seeming unable to recognize any one, they hastened to 
their huts without looking to the right or to the left. If 
spoken to, they feigned deafness. They do not wish many 
friends at such times as this as they would have to divide 
their catch with them. This is much like the civilized man, 
who, having acquired a fortune, is unable, longer, to recog- 
nize his less favored friends and relatives. 

A death occurred in the village the day after our arrival, 
and as custom among these people forbids that any member 
of the family of the deceased should leave the village to fish, 
hunt, or to forage, until all the obsequies, which continue many 
days, are over, they must trust to the generosity of their 
neighbors for food. Consequently, the father of the bereaved 

364 




A Bororo Village. 



See Chapter xxxii. 



Brazil 

family came to us often, saying '" Nagareda by — tapira" (My 
child die. I would like a piece of beef.) Sometimes he begged 
for other things, saying, for example, " My child die ; I would 
like a handkerchief, red." 

The smart young men of the tribe, who, like their civilized 
brothers, are fond of dress and display, wear suspended from 
a hole in the lower lip, a chain of bright shells six inches long, 
terminating in a brilliant crimson feather. But the older men, 
who no longer care for fashion and show, discard this orna- 
ment and wear only a wooden plug in the hole, as they are 
unable to drink when it is open, it being very large. 

The young women, and girls over six years of age, wear 
a kind of corset made of the inner bark of a tree. It looks 
much like the sides of a cheese box, is twelve inches broad, 
hard and stiff. It must be very uncomfortable when first 
worn. In addition to this primitive corset, the females wear 
a long strip of soft inner bark eight inches broad and resem- 
bling brown canvas, which is specially prepared. It is passed 
between the legs, and each end, at the back and in front, is 
tucked in between the upper edge of the corset and the body. 
It is made of the same kind of bark as that used by the Karaya, 
but does not drop down in front, apron-fashion, as with the 
Karaya. Adorned with these articles, the females consider 
themselves fully and decently dressed, and would not think 
of appearing in public without them. 

Crescents, evidently in veneration of the moon, are worn 
constantly by both sexes, suspended from the neck ; also rows, 
six or eight inches long, of monkey, tiger or wolverine teeth. 
They seemed to prize these decorations very highly, and were 
always loathe to part with them. The huge horn claws of 
the tatu canastro, the giant armadillo, are also much valued, 
and worn hanging from the neck. 

Many of the men wear, wound around the head, a rope 
ten or fifteen yards long, made by braiding together human 
hair which was cut off or jerked out during funeral ceremonies. 
The men also tied the bright-colored handkerchief, obtained 

365 



Brazil. 

from us, around their heads ; while the boys tied them around 
their loins, allowing the flap to drop behind. 

It is chiefly the young men that besmear themselves from 
head to foot with the yellowish-red grease, or paint, until 
they glisten in the sunshine, and also mass a red, putty-like 
material into their hair. Both sexes allow their coarse, black, 
horse-tail like hair to grow long and drop down in an ugly, 
tangled mass over their shoulders, except in front, where it 
is cut off, like " bangs." The young men also paint a black 
crescent over the forehead from cheek to cheek, or a com- 
plete circle, passing over the upper lip ; and glue bright feather 
epaulets on their shoulders. The men pull out every hair 
of their sparse beards and also of their eyebrows, which gives 
them a peculiar look ; and occasionally pierce the nose and 
ears as well as the lower lip. 

The Bororo are large, stoutly-built, powerful men. I do 
not remember having seen one less than five feet eight inches 
tall. 

Social grades exist among these children of the forest 
just as among higher races, though much less complex and 
not so distinctly marked. They have, in a small, crude way, 
an " upper ten " and a " lower ten " thousand ; " high caste " 
people and " outcasts " ; " dudes," " belles," and " back num- 
bers ; " " big men," " first families," and " the masses." 

We could not but be highly amused at times because of the 
astonishing habiliments in which these big, overgrown chil- 
dren occasionally appeared. Any garment secured from us 
was always regarded purely as an ornament, and not in any 
sense as a necessary article of covering, unless to protect 
themselves at times from the cold, or from insects. Neither did 
they have any knowledge of the civilized world's mandates as 
to the manner in which these articles should be worn. One 
day, my companion gave a pair of white drawers and a white 
vest to a dignified old captain who already possessed a black 
shirt and hat. Shortly thereafter, he appeared wearing all 
these articles as a morning dress, and these only. In the after- 
noon, he visited us again, wearing the vest and hat, only, as 

366 



Brazil 

an evening dress. Some days afterward, another sedate cap- 
tain appeared at our hut gravely wearing my companion's 
riding boots, a cutaway coat and a hat, only. Again, a big, 
burly savage would be seen arrayed only in a garment which 
was once a white shirt, and a hat ; or, finally, wearing nothing 
but a hat. The hat, too, is only an ornament, as custom among 
these primitive people does not require its use. 

To give them in exchange for articles of their manufac- 
ture, and for food, I had brought a number of knives of various 
sizes, a quantity of bright-colored cloth, beads, and fishhooks 
of different sizes, but no axes, because of their weight. The 
Bororo, like all primitive peoples, are fond of bright colors, of 
which scarlet is much the most admired. They dislike black, 
for it is the emblem of mourning to them. Whenever they 
brought anything to me for exchange, they placed it upon the 
table, then withdrew to the background as if they purposed 
to give it to me, gratis. But knowing their ways, we would 
ask them what they wished in exchange, and they would 
point to the article desired. As their standard of values was 
far different from mine, I sometimes found that they asked 
much less for their products than they should receive, in which 
case I usually added an article or two. At other times, they 
demanded articles in exchange that would have made the object 
they brought me very costly. But we usually sent them away 
satisfied. 

One day, five splendid warriors came to visit us from a 
distant village called the Kogi au Paro, bringing with them 
beautifully ornamented bows and arrows, having heard that 
we were giving knives and other useful articles in exchange 
for their products. They filed, cat-like, into our hut with 
solemn and dignified mien, and " laid down their arms " 
upon our table, then modestly withdrew to the rear of the 
primitive company that surrounded us. My companion, Senhor 
Antonio, then said to the first man, " Caiba?" — what do you 
wish? " Axe," he replied, making us understand by a mixture 
of native and Portuguese words and by signs, as did they 
all; in fact, they communicated with us more by means of 

367 



Brazil. 

signs than by words. " Caibaf " again said my companion to 
the second copper-colored figure. " Big knife," he replied. 
The third man explained by shivering and acting cold, and 
going through the motions of drawing on a shirt and pulling 
it down, that he wanted a shirt; while the fourth and fifth 
wanted cloth. 

To the first, we explained by words and signs, " Axe, none, 
— tramp, tramp many days — mule, one — trail bad." Neither 
did we have a shirt for the third man. But he insisted upon 
having one, saying, " Boe, sick ; Boe, cold " — me sick, me cold. 
I was uncertain what to do to satisfy him and obtain his 
beautiful bow and arrow. But at this juncture, one of our 
men, a stripling of nineteen years, came to the rescue, offering 
his undershirt on condition that I get him another. When the 
garment was brought in, however, and displayed to the big 
Bororo, and was seen to be even smaller than its slim owner, 
the savage exclaimed in dismay, " Baikymo!" — no, no, me 
fat! and he passed his hands over his big body. Finally, 
I remembered that I had a small tent which I could not use. 
This I tore up and made all the men happy who wanted cloth 
and shirts. The Bororo do not appear to make any use of 
the skins of animals for covering, and apparently, have no 
knowledge of tanning. 

They always joined in helping one of their number who 
was making a trade with us, by lauding the object offered, 
and demanding a good return from us. We were sometimes 
flooded with certain articles of their manufacture. One day, 
some queer little dolls were brought to me, which I traded for 
as I had none ; but the next day I was surfeited with them 
as they are easily made. 

The little black box, my camera, caused the savages much 
anxiety. They would take to their heels whenever they saw 
me pointing it toward them. It is useless to try to explain 
to them how it works, for it is so far beyond their comprehen- 
sion that they cannot possibly understand it. It is an in- 
scrutable mystery to them, and they regard it with super- 
stitious fear. A contrivance that can stamp and preserve in 

368 



Brazil 

its obscure heart an exact image of anything it winks at, 
must be some wicked device of the bopi — demons. The savage 
believes that any one having his picture may practice some 
black art over it and bring evil upon the original : that, as 
one may do what he wishes with the image, he likewise has 
power over the real man. Moreover, if one is such a power- 
ful conjurer that he can secure that image, What may he not 
do with the original? I had to bribe them with valuable 
gifts in order to secure a number of pictures. 

The Bororo, like other South American tribes, dwell in 
gloomy palm-branch huts that resemble squatty, old hay- 
stacks huddled together in complete disorder in the coarse 
grass and among the scraggy trees of the upland jungle. They 
are constructed by first planting two posts in the ground 
twenty or thirty feet apart, ten feet high, and terminating in 
a fork, to support the ridge pole, which is held in position 
by means of creepers from the forest, instead of nails. Against 
the ridge pole, are reclined and bound, the rafters, the feet 
of which are sunk slightly in the ground and the upper ends 
are bound to the ridge pole. Bamboo poles are next bound 
horizontally to these rafters, while upright' stakes are set in at 
the gables ; and finally, to the entire frame-work, are bound 
huge, feather-shaped palm-branches, to shed the rain, and ex- 
clude the light because of the flies. The primitive residence 
is now complete. The only light that enters is what filters 
through the palm-branches. To enter, one pushes aside the 
palm-branches at one end and enters in a stooping position. 

These strange, uncouth dens of savagery, are dark, un- 
clean, and ill-smelling, and so devoid of every object consid- 
ered absolutely essential to a civilized human abode, that it 
is difficult to comprehend that they are the dwellings of true 
human beings — the homes of multitudes of real men, women 
and children ; where they are born, reared and pass their days, 
and the only abodes they have ever known. Entering one of 
these human lairs, we find it more or less strewn with decay- 
ing food refuse, such as bones and other rejected parts of 
fish, mammals, birds and reptiles; shells, stones and peelings 

24 369 



Brazil. 

from fruits and vegetables, besides chips and other debris 
from weapon and ornament making. Like infants, they simply 
drop, wherever they happen to be, such parts of the food 
they are eating as they do not want. 

There is no household furniture, as we understand it, in 
these primitive residences. Mats, made by braiding together 
the long, slender leaves of palm-branches, are spread upon 
the ground to serve as beds, tables, chairs, and sofas. Cala- 
bash and gourd shells of various shapes and sizes, and large, 
oyster-like shells, found in the woods, are the pans, basins, 
bowls, bottles, cups, plates and spoons, furnished by Nature, 
ready for use. A few clay pots are the only vessels the 
Bororo have which are made by their own hands. The 
" stove " is a light fire made by placing the ends of small 
sticks together like spokes of a wheel. The " pantry " is a 
little platform of sticks five feet directly above the fire, sup- 
ported by four stakes, upon which is placed the food that 
cannot be eaten at once in order that it may be preserved by 
the smoke. Palm-nuts are also heaped up here. Stuck 
around in the roof and hanging from it, are seen the primi- 
tive weapons of war and of the chase, such as bows and 
various kinds of spear-like arrows, fishing gear, several kinds 
of small, home-made baskets, feather and bone ornaments, 
charms, and ceremonial paraphernalia. The primitive house- 
keeper is seen squatting or kneeling, engaged in the prepara- 
tion of some insipid broth in a clay pot over the little fire, 
or else splitting goose-egg cocoanuts and pulverizing the meats 
in a rude mortar with which to make a kind of bread. The 
head of the household kneels, or sits cross-legged, on a palm- 
leaf mat occupied in making bows and arrows or ornaments, 
or repairing fishing-tackle ; or else lying full-length on his 
mat with a five-inch pole for a pillow, on which the neck 
rests, and nibbling a bit of jungle food; while the children 
are seen, either assisting the mother in her culinary operations, 
or amusing themselves in a quiet way just outside tne hut. 
Not a patch of " dry goods " has ever entered this human 

370 



Brazil 

abode, and the entire family, as previously stated, is virtually 
in a state of nature. 

When the primitive residence becomes so unsanitary that 
even the barbarous occupants cannot longer endure it, they 
erect a new hut a short distance from the old one and move 
into it, burning, or merely abandoning the old dwelling. No 
dray is needed to move such a household, and the packing up 
is very simple, for the housewife can gather up in a few 
minutes and carry in one load the entire possessions of the 
family. At wide intervals of time, the entire population of 
the primitive city moves out, constructs another cluster of 
huts on a new site, then burns the old city. This is their 
method of house-cleaning and of city sanitation. Instead of 
removing the garbage, they remove the town, or, at least, 
change their residence. There is no sweeping, dusting, wash- 
ing, scrubbing, ironing, mending, dress-making, or washing 
to do in these primitive abodes. The over-burdened civilized 
housekeeper must admit that primitive housekeeping is not 
destitute of advantages. One to four families dwell in a hut> 
each having their own little camp-fire, or kitchen, for, in a 
limited sense, at least, they do not believe in having " two 
cooks in one kitchen." 

In every Bororo encampment, or village, there is one very 
large hut around which all the family huts cluster. This hut 
is called the baihytu — great hut — while a small, family dwelling 
is called a bai. This great hut is a public building, or a sort 
of town hall where all public functions occur. It is also a 
bachelors' hall where all the single men of the village reside; 
a kind of club-house or hotel ; the village workshop where the 
men do the most of their weapon and ornament making; and 
finally, the public brothel. No female of the tribe is per- 
mitted to enter this primitive " house of mirth " save at 
night for immoral purposes, or to participate in funeral 
ceremonies. 

Some Brazilian tribes, instead of having many small huts 
in each of which two or three families, only, reside, erect 
one very large hut, one or two hundred feet long and seventy- 

371 



Brazil 

five feet broad, which is partitioned off into a large number of 
apartments and occupied by an entire village of twenty or 
thirty families. It is a primitive tenement house. 

The Bororo have no domestic animals whatever; and no 
captive wild creatures except the brilliant plumaged macaws 
and parrots, which are kept for their feathers, and for the 
pleasure of their companionship. 

About the only agricultural work the Bororo do, in com- 
mon with many other South American tribes, is to raise a 
little yellow corn, though they obtain but a mere handful of 
their annual food supply from this source. Agriculture is 
always carried on with extreme difficulty where the savages 
have no steel instruments with which to cut down the forest 
and prepare the soil. Those tribes that have secured axes, 
grubbing-hoes and large knives, sometimes plant consider- 
able ground. 

But the fact that all these tribes are communistic societies ; 
that is, have all things in common, operates seriously, it 
seems to me, against their engaging in agriculture on a scale 
sufficiently large to produce their entire food supply. Their 
social arrangements are such that if any family should raise 
a quantity of produce, they would have to divide it with the 
rest of the community; so, after all their labor, they would 
find themselves without anything for tomorrow, and on a 
level with those who had not toiled. Consequently, there is 
but little incentive to provide food except as hunger drives 
them forth, in common with the other denizens of the wilds, 
to procure something for immediate consumption. 

Therefore, the primitive man has knowledge of nearly 
everything in his savage world that is edible, whether it be- 
longs to the animal or vegetable kingdom, and knows just 
when and where it is to be found, and how to obtain it. Some 
tribes look almost exclusively to the forest, others to the river, 
for their meat supply. Thus different tribes are either expert 
fishermen, or expert hunters. When fish become scarce, as 
they do at certain seasons, the fishermen tribes are forced to 
become vegetarians, largely. 

372 



Brazil 

The palm-tree in its numerous varieties, is the never-failing 
friend of the " children of the wilderness." It will provide 
them with food of some kind every day in the year, even 
when there is nothing else to be had. Every day, unfailingly, 
they may obtain the white, cheese-like heart of a kind that 
grows but six feet high. The outer rings are stripped off, 
leaving a vegetable like the solid part of a cabbage. I found 
it an excellent food, when cooked. The savages eat it raw. 
The spongy, fiberous trunk of another palm, when pounded 
and wrung out, yields a white, starchy liquid, like milk. This 
is boiled in a clay pot and mixed with the yellow, insipid fruit 
of the burity-palm. It is considered good broth. Or, the un- 
cooked liquid may be evaporated, and the starch thus obtained 
made into a kind of bread. The large, yellow, plum-like fruit 
of the burity-palm is eaten raw with a relish by the Bororo, 
though I found it far from palatable. 

Another variety of palm furnishes an unfailing supply of 
nuts about the size of a goose-egg. This nut is first thrown 
into the fire for a few minutes, then the thin outer shell is 
peeled off and a layer of an insipid substance, somewhat like 
slippery-elm, is scraped from it and eaten. Next, the nut, 
which is very thick, is split, and the small, white, woody 
kernel removed and eaten raw, or pulverized in a wooden 
mortar and made into a cake, which is wrapped in green 
leaves and baked in the ashes. The Bororo consider this a 
delicacy. Still other varieties of palm furnish the Bororo the 
material for his bows and arrows, and cordage for fish-nets 
and harpoon lines, besides the material with which to build 
his hut. 

Charles Darwin describes a very interesting palm found 
on the Andean ridge. When fallen up hill and the top cut 
off, it yields an incredible quantity of sweet sap, from which 
syrup and sugar are made. 

But the most remarkable tree is the famous " vegetable 
cow," found in Venezuela and in the Amazonian forests, 
which yields an amazing quantity of milk. Humboldt describes 
this wonderful plant in his book of travels in tropical America. 

373 



Brazil. 

He says : " Among the many curious phenomena which I 
saw in the course of my travels, I confess there were few 
which affected my imagination so powerfully as the cow-tree. 
* * * * * Magnificent forests, majestic rivers, lofty mountains 
clad in perennial snows, are not the objects which we most 
admire. A few drops of a vegetable fluid impresses us with 
the power and fecundity of Nature. On the parched sides 
of a rock grows a tree with dry and leathery foliage, its large, 
woody roots scarcely penetrating into the ground. For several 
months in the year, its leaves are not moistened by a single 
shower; its branches look as if they were dead and withered. 
But when the trunk is bored, a bland and nourishing fluid 
flows from it. It is at sunrise that the vegetable fountain 
flows most freely. At that time, the natives are seen coming 
from all parts provided with large bowls to receive the milk, 
which grows yellow and thickens at its surface. Some drain 
their bowls on the spot, while others carry them to their 
children. One imagines he sees the family of the shepherd 
who is distributing the milk of his flock." 

Wallace describes another milk tree, the Masseranduba, 
which he saw near Para, saying : " It is one of the noblest 
trees of the forest, having a straight stem and rising to an 
enormous height. The wood is very hard, fine-grained and 
durable. It bears an edible fruit of excellent quality, the 
size of a small apple, and full of rich pulpy juice. The milk, 
which exudes when the bark is cut, is of the consistency of 
thick cream, and but for a slight peculiarity in the taste, 
can scarcely be distinguished from the genuine product of the 
cow. We cut several notches in the bark of some logs of 
this tree that had lain on the ground a month, and in a 
minute, the rich milk was oozing out in great quantities, 
some of which we collected in a basin, diluted it with water, 
strained it, and used it for supper and breakfast. The pe- 
culiar flavor of this milk seemed to improve the flavor of 
our tea, and gave it as good a color as rich cream. We had 
a custard made of it, which proved very good. This milk 

374 



Brazil 

also makes an excellent and durable glue; in time it hardens 
and becomes like gutta-percha." 

Another remarkable tree, found in Brazil, is the Carnauba 
palm. From its roots, a tea is made equal to Sarsaparilla ; a 
kind of straw grows on the stem, from which hats, baskets 
and brooms are made; the trunk can be pulverized and 
made into an excellent paper cloth, and building material; 
the cabbage-like heart of the stem, called palmetto, is a much- 
prized edible vegetable. In the stem also, a pith is found 
that can be used as cork, while the solid wood is valuable 
for making musical instruments, tubes and pumps. From the 
sap, vinegar, wine, saccharine and sago are made; the fruit 
of the tree makes a nutritious food for cattle; and from the 
seeds — nuts — a kind of coffee is made when real coffee is 
scarce. The tree also yields a white liquid, like cocoanut 
milk, which, when dried and pulverized, makes an excellent 
flour. Finally, its leaves yield large quantities of valuable 
wax. Three million pounds of this wax is exported annually 
from Brazil, while two million pounds are used at home. 



375 



Chapter XXXIII. 

WEAPONS. — THE BLOW GUN. — HUNTING. — MAR- 
VELOUS FISHERMEN.— THE MANO RACE.— THE 
WILD MAN'S EVENING ANTHEM.— WOMAN. 
—UNIQUE MARRIAGES.— FIGHTS.— PRIMI- 
TIVE ARITHMETIC. 

The weapons of the Bororo, used both in war and in the 
chase, are huge bows that are longer than the archer is 
tall, spear-like arrows four or five feet in length, and two 
styles of clubs, made of iron-like wood, one of which is shaped 
like an enormous dagger. 

They obtain the wood for their bows from a certain palm- 
tree, and the fibre with which to make their bow strings 
from the long, slender foliage of another plam. The fibre 
is stripped out of the green leaves by the primitive artisan, 
and twisted, or spun, by rolling between the palm of the hand 
and the leg above the knee as the spinner sits, cross-legged, 
on his palm-leaf mat, and lastly, these strands are twisted 
dexterously into cordage in the same manner. The bow is 
usually wound half its length with reserve string. 

The arrows are made by skilfully fitting together three 
different pieces of wood. The point, or spear part, is made 
either of taquara or palm-wood, and in a variety of forms, 
according to the use to be made of it. Broad blade points 
are used in hunting large game, and for war, while various 
styles of harpoon points are used for fishing. A special 
kind of arrow is made which is six feet in length and very 

376 



Brazil 

heavy, and is shot with a line attached. It is really a har- 
poon, to be used in fishing. A big Bororo, with a bow six 
and a half or seven feet in length can launch an arrow with 
such force as to drive it through a tapir at close range ; but he 
is not an accurate marksman beyond fifty yards. 

A unique weapon, used by many of the aborigines of the 
Amazon valley, is the blow-gun. It resembles a gigantic pea- 
shooter ten or fifteen feet in length, or an enormously elon- 
gated bass clarinet, for the mouth-piece is made flaring like 
the bell of a clarinet. The wild man finds this weapon nearly 
ready made by Nature. It is constructed of the stem of a 
palm that grows but fifteen feet high, without joints, and 
two inches thick, and has a soft, pithy heart, which, when 
removed, leaves a smooth, polished bore. To make the gun, 
two of the straightest stems obtainable are selected, one 
small and the other large ; and when the bores are cleared, 
the small tube is forced inside the large one, in order that 
one may counteract any slight crookedness in the other. A 
bell-shaped, or conical wooden mouth-piece is next attached, 
and sometimes the tube is wound spirally from end to end 
with the smooth, shiny bark of a creeper. 

The needle-like arrows are made of the spinous processes 
of the patawa tree, having a conical tuft of cotton secured 
to the base, which fits snugly, but not tightly, into the bore 
of the gun. This projectile is hurled by a short, sharp puff 
of breath, like a boy shoots a pea, and has a range of forty or 
fifty yards. But it cannot be propelled with sufficient force to 
kill anything, so the points of several are dipped in a pois- 
onous liquid just before they are to be used, which imme- 
diately stupifies and kills the victim, if only the skin is broken, 
though the animal may be restored if salt is at once rubbed 
into its mouth. 

Since the blow-gun is noiseless, it is more useful to the 
primitive hunter than a firearm. With it, he is enabled to 
bring down monkey after monkey, for instance, until he 
has bagged an entire troop, whereas, with a firearm, all would 
be frightened away by the first shot. This weapon has been 

377 



Brazil 

used with fatal effect against traders ascending narrow 
streams in canoes, for the savage manipulator, hiding behind 
the dense masses of trees and bushes that lined the bank of 
the river, stealthily launched his deadly darts without being 
discovered. 

In war, the Bororo, like many other South American 
tribes, prefer a hand to hand attack with heavy clubs. If 
they can choose the hour of attack, they select a moment just 
before dawn, or else the evening just after dark. They yell 
fiendishly when making an attack. 

The Bororo always build their villages near some important 
stream, for they look more, to the water for their flesh food 
than to the forest, and are far more expert fishermen than 
hunters. Though when fish are scarce, which they are dur- 
ing several months each year, they scour the forest in search 
of game. At such times, entire families leave the village to 
wander far away through forest and jungle, remaining absent 
two or three months. 

They bravely attack, hand to hand, even the most ferocious 
game — the jaguar. When this powerful beast attacks a 
man, it springs to within a few feet of him, then rises up on 
its hind feet, like a bear, and closes with him. It is remark- 
able that an animal of the cat family should assume this 
position ; but perhaps it is suggested to it by the upright 
position of the man. When forced to meet the beast in close 
combat, the Brazilian hunter provides himself with a heavy 
bar of wood five or six feet in length and terminating in a 
fork. Grasping this with the left hand, he holds it inclined 
in front of him with the foot resting upon the ground, and 
parries the attack by receiving the. brute in the fork, which 
gives him time to thrust into its vitals the long knife held in 
the right hand. 

But the Bororo hunter rarely uses the fork, employing, in- 
stead, a still more dangerous method. Having wound fifteen 
or twenty yards of hair rope around the left arm, he presents 
it, doubled, to the great cat when it rises to attack him, and at 
the same instant, plunges a knife into its heart. I saw 

378 



Brazil 

a Bororo whose arm had been crushed between the jaws of 
a jaguar in a battle of this kind. 

The great ant-bear is a much-prized game with the Bororo. 
Finding one, they do not kill it at once, but drive it to the 
village. This is easily done since the brute always runs 
straight away from its pursuers at a slow pace; hence it can 
be driven in any direction by the hunter appearing on one 
flank or the other. The savages make use of every part of 
its body — blood, flesh, skin, hair, bones and entrails. 

The Bororo are marvelous fishermen. Their principal 
method for catching fish is with a huge sack-like net which 
is made with large meshes and of the same kind of cordage 
as the bow strings. The mouth of the sack is secured to two 
parallel rods ten or twelve feet in length, which are bound to- 
gether at the extremities ; and the sack is opened by springing 
the rods apart. Equipped with these sack-nets, a group of the 
primitive anglers plunge into the river a few miles above 
the village and descend with the great, muddy current, swim- 
ming and diving, and exploring the depths of the river; and 
by the exercise of astonishing skill, succeed in bagging fish 
that weigh ten or fifteen, or even one hundred pounds. When 
the fish is once inside the sack, the mouth is allowed to spring 
shut, and the sack is then gradually rolled up by revolving 
the poles ; and finally, when the fish is in such close quarters 
that it is helpless, and has been brought to the surface of 
the water, the fisherman seizes the small club which he has 
been trailing from the back of his neck, and pommels it until 
it is dead. The sack is now unrolled and the fish removed, 
strung on a cord and trailed behind with the club ; then the 
almost amphibious man proceeds once more to explore the 
depth of the river for more fish. The whole operation of catch- 
ing and disposing of the fish is performed in deep water; 
and when the savage angler finally lands at the village, he 
may drag after him half a dozen or more ten or fifteen-pound 
fish. Sometimes, four or five large fish are caught at one 
scoop. When the fisherman bags a fish nearly as large as 
himself, he is forced to call a companion to assist him. 



379 



Brazil 

These men display amazing strength in the water. They 
have almost lived in the water from babyhood, and have 
learned the secret of just how to bring into play nearly every 
ounce of their great strength. An ordinary swimmer wastes 
the greater part of his strength in the water because he has 
not acquired the secret of how to apply it. A Bororo will 
roll over on his back, seize an object with both hands, and 
pull almost like a tug-boat. 

When fish become scarce, part of the men of the village, 
taking their sack-nets, form a cordon across the river, then 
bellowing, screaming and diving, treading the water and 
making a great commotion, drive the scattered fish down the 
river, much as cowboys round up cattle; while the remain- 
ing men, with their sack-nets, form a line across the river 
two or three miles below to complete the round-up. Thus- 
they corner and bag the fish. 

Another method of fishing employed by the Bororo, is 
with a harpoon. The point, including the one or two barbs, 
is of bone, and detaches from the staff, which is eighteen 
inches in length. Fifty or one hundred yards of strong line 
is wound around the point part and one end secured to the 
detachable staff. Armed with this weapon, the fisherman 
dives very quietly to the bottom of the river at a spot which 
he knows to be the lurking place of a jahu, for instance, a 
fish that grows as large as a man. Espying one as it rests 
in the shadow of some rock, he approaches it with great 
stealth, lying, perhaps, motionless in the water and allowing 
the current to float him geixtly within reach of his prey. Then, 
suddenly, he plunges the harpoon into it, and retaining the 
staff in his hand, he rises quickly to the surface, lands, plays 
his game, and finally brings it ashore. This method of fishing 
is practiced when the water becomes less charged with earth. 

Still another method of catching fish is with the bow and the 
large harpoon arrow with the line attached. Thus armed, 
the fisherman awaits his game at some shallow place, or where 
the fish pass near the surface of the water; or at a spot where 
they approach the edge of the river to feed upon certain 

380 



Brazil. 

fruits that fall into the water from the overhanging branches 
of trees. The habits of the denizens of both forest and stream 
are well known to the wild men. 

The Bororo also fish with a bow and an ordinary harpoon- 
pointed arrow, which they shoot into a fish when it comes 
near the surface, then dash into the water, seize the end of 
the arrow and drag the fish ashore. They cannot catch very 
large fish in this way. They do not care much for fish-hooks. 
The only time I saw them use them was to patrol the river 
once when fish were scarce. But this is a new method of 
fishing to them. 

One day, we went fishing with hooks and lines off some 
rocks. After waiting some time for a bite, one of our hooks 
in the meantime getting fast in a log at the bottom of the 
river, several Bororo appeared, equipped with their sack- 
nets, and plunged into the river to fish. So we asked one of 
them to dive and release the hook. Coming up with it soon, 
he made us appear foolish by coolly informing us that there 
were no fish in that locality. Having learned to greatly re- 
spect Bororo knowledge of such matters, we drew in our 
lines and abandoned the spot. 

When we arrived at the Ta Dare Mano Pa.ro village, the 
river Pogubu teemed with fish, especially with a fine specie 
called pacii by the Brazilians. A low, rumbling sound, like 
the paddling of a steamboat in the distance, caused by these 
fish, issued from the river. In these seasons of plenty, the 
natives are contented and grow fleshy. 

The Bororo frequently plunge into the turbid waters of 
the river at the dead of night when the darkness is inky, 
and swimming and diving, fish for hours while descending 
with the current. Of course they can see nothing, so must 
guide themselves by the senses of feeling and hearing. They 
have no canoes, nor any knowledge of how to make them. 

One of the most striking traits of character of these chil- 
dren of Nature is their power of imitation. Their music (?) 
is almost wholly the reproducing of the voices of the many 
wild creatures they know, while their sports are close imita- 

381 



Brazil 

tions of the doings of animate nature, not excepting even the 
insects. Indeed, the imitating of animals appears to form a 
large part of Bororo life. 

Late, one murky afternoon, I had the pleasure of seeing 
them run what they call the Mano race. Mano is their name 
for the small, wild banana-plant used in this race. The word 
also means youth, or young man. Perhaps the name means, 
the young men's race. The race is run by two groups of men 
each carrying a ponderous roll of the mano plants, and seems 
to be a close imitation of some of the performances of the 
saiiba ants. 

Early in the day, all the men of the village went up 
the river to a spot where the mano grows, and cut a ton or 
two of the plants, which grow but three or four feet high, 
brought the material down the river on rude floats made of 
bundles of bamboo or burity-palm wood, carried it to a point 
about seven hundred yards from the village and placed it in 
two piles, one for each of the two divisions of the village, 
the. Sheraidi and the Ta Nagareda. 

Each group of contestants now seated themselves on 
the damp ground and prepared the mano by cutting off 
the tops, leaving a spongy stalk eighteen inches long. This 
done, each group transformed its stack of material into 
a huge roll, or wheel. To do this, two men placed themselves 
face to face, five feet apart, like living posts, having two long 
cords passed over their shoulders and looped down to the 
ground between them, and supported by two companions who 
leaned against them, back to back; then the mano was piled 
between these human posts and the cords were thrown over it 
and drawn tight by placing the rolls on their sides and three 
or four savages pulling on the end of each cord while others 
pommeled the green mass over the cords. When tightly 
bound, each wheel was again placed in an upright position 
ready to be seized and hurried off in the mad race for the 
village. 

But primitive men must do things decently and in order 
as well as their more favored civilized brothers. A Ta 



382 



Brazil 

Nagareda man, with much ostentation and politeness, now 
steps quickly over to the Sheraidi group, grasps a man by the 
wrist, trots him around his wheel, then stops in front of it, 
announcing by this act that the wheel is delivered to the team 
that is to run with it. A Sheraidi promptly returns the com- 
pliment by stepping gravely over to the Ta Nagareda group 
and repeating the ceremony. Each man who has now been 
presented to his wheel and his wheel to him, politely intro- 
duces to his wheel, one by one, in the same manner, all the 
men of his team until each squad of human ants surrounds 
its own big worm. 

The signal to begin the race being given, each team in- 
stantly seized its wheel and ran, pell-mell, yelling wildly, in 
a mad race for the village. The spectacle suggested strongly a 
swarm of ants that had seized a huge living worm and were 
running frantically with it for their dark galleries. Each team 
tried to maintain its wheel in an upright position, but it took 
a sag this way and a lurch that way, then finally rolled over 
onto the running, tumbling, squirming mass and fell to the 
ground. But picking it up again instantly, they rushed on, 
headlong, some under it, some on it, some dragging it, while 
others were being dragged, and all emitting continuously a 
dull, maniacal roar. Sometimes one team was in the lead, 
sometimes the other. As they rushed into the savage city 
through a narrow alley between two private residences, one of 
the wheels took a lurch and burst through the wall of one of the 
residences into the sitting-room. At last, both teams threw 
down their rolls at the same moment in the public square near 
the great hut, amid the acclamations of the entire city. All the 
contestants now hastened into the great hut to enjoy a savage 
banquet, leaving their wheels to the women and children, 
who fell upon them in swarms and began, excitedly, to 
pull out the mano in order to tie it into small bundles for use 
as pillows. 

The Bororo imitate Nature also in their musical festivals — 
if one may call this medley of wild, discordant sounds music. 
They sing what they call the bakororo in the savage town hall 

383 



Brazil 

nearly every evening just after nightfall. It is the wild man's 
evening anthem — a grand, pandemoniacal serenade, primitive 
charivari, or callithumpian band and madman's glee club 
chorus, reproducing the harsh, strident and fearsome vocifera- 
tions of the denizens of forest, marsh and stream, and supple- 
mented by pumping artificial thunder through huge trumpets 
of savage manufacture. I passed three nights in the great hut 
at a village called the Kogi au Paro, where I saw and heard the 
bakororo at close quarters. 

The air was heavily charged with savage odors, while the 
darkness was intense, slightly broken momentarily by the 
fitful, lurid flame of the little fire in one corner of the pen 
where our pot of boiled beef was being fried for the fifth time ; 
so the outline of the group of nude, bronze savages could be 
discerned only occasionally. But, though there was little that 
appealed to the sense of sight, the auricular sense was almost 
overwhelmed by the hurricane of confused, strident noises that 
swept over us, issuing from this storm-center-like horde, and 
which sounded more like the cries and roars of a maddened 
menagerie than the utterances of human beings. One could 
easily imagine that he was assisting at a general assembly or 
world's convention of all creation ; — that all four-footed beasts, 
flying fowl and creeping things, and, in brief, "everything that 
hath breath," had joined in a grand jubilee chorus, or s&nger- 
fest. 

Standing in the center of the big, primitive music hall, and 
dancing by squatting slightly without lifting the feet, the sav- 
age chorus bellowed and roared with a powerful tremulo and 
a mighty crescendo. They mimicked the bass onca! oncal of the 
jaguar; they barked, howled, yelped and horned in imitation 
of the wild dogs and foxes ; they laughed like hyenas ; whistled 
like the tapir ; grunted, scolded and squealed like the wild hogs ; 
bleated like the deer; squeaked like the capibara; twanged a 
guitar, like the inhahuma ; chirped, piped and bellowed in imi- 
tation of all the frogs and toads; roared, or howled, hoarsely 
and stridently, like monkeys singing their morning anthem; 
honked like the giant crane; chattered and screamed loudly, 

384 



Brazil 

like the parrots; hooted, squaked and peeped, mimicking the 
notes of various other families of birds; snorted, wheezed, 
growled and hissed. The irrational world nightly chants its 
bakororo, Why may not these human denizens of the wilds 
also chant theirs? Hearing this tumult of wild, discordant 
sounds and confused noises, especially under the circumstances 
which we did and in such a savage locality, was like experi- 
encing a strange, uncanny nightmare, which could not fail to 
make impressions upon the mind that will remain vivid while 
life endures. 

This bakororo is always sung on the vesper of a hunting 
expedition, and seems to be in honor of the animal the savages 
intend to hunt the following day. They do not appear to artic- 
ulate words in this wild uproar; or if they do, it is merely a 
constant repetition of a very few words only. The bakororo 
is also sung in honor of visitors. Savages observe time only 
in their music, ignoring harmony and tune. 

After the singing of the bakororo that I witnessed, all the 
savages went outside the great hut, where they cleared a space 
of black ground, then formed animals in relief with ashes, 
especially the figure of the tapir, which they purposed to hunt 
the next day. The proportions were good of the animals of 
their world ; but when they tried to form a horse and rider, the 
result was a monstrosity, for the horse is a new animal to 
them. They greatly admire hunting with horses and dogs, as 
well they may, since by their method of hunting they must 
pursue an animal on foot for hours at full speed. The forming 
of animals in relief seems to be also in honor of these animals. 

It was very interesting to observe how childlike these prim- 
itive people are, and in how many ways they resemble the 
irrational creatures of their world. Though they have the 
bodies of strong, well-developed men and women, they give 
abundant evidence that they have the mind only of a child. 
Their language is rude and very limited, and without language 
man cannot think and reason, and his mind remains in an 
untutored, infantile state. 

In common with the wild beasts, the wild man obtains his 

25 385 



Brazil 

food largely, or wholly, from uncultivated, unsubdued Nature, 
consuming much of it in a raw state ; and instead of mastering 
Nature, Nature crushes- him. Again, like the brutes, he scours 
forest and field to satisfy only for to-day the hunger of him- 
self and his little brood, with no thought for to-morrow; and 
having secured an abundance of game, he eats enormously, 
then lies down contentedly to sleep, and rises up to play, until 
hunger again drives him forth in search of prey. Once more 
like his irrational neighbors, the object of his existence, appar- 
ently, is not to possess houses and lands and goods, but simply 
to have a mate, food for the moment, and to pass his days in 
childish amusements. When the sun is hot, he sleeps, or 
instinctively seeks the water that he may play in it and cool 
himself; when night comes, he arouses himself and sings his 
bakororo in common with all the frogs and toads, and other 
creatures. Lastly, like the wild animals, he is clothed only as 
Nature clothes him. 

Imitating Nature, the social economy of these primitive 
people is, in important respects, the reverse of Christian civ- 
ilization. Like irrational nature, the female is the principal, or 
most responsible food provider for the little family, or brood — 
not the male. Again, like the female in Nature, and unlike 
Christian civilization, the female does not adorn herself, nor 
sing or play ; while the male, on the other hand, peacock-like, 
decorating his person, makes himself gorgeous and struts 
about in a lordly manner; and besides, like the male in Nature, 
produces all the music. Once more, the female performs all 
the heavy work and the drudgery, and is the servant and slave 
of her mate, while the light and fancy work, including orna- 
ment making, is done by the male. Woman in all ages and 
lands from the dawn of time, has occupied herself exclusively in 
the pursuits of peace. More gentle, affectionate and domestic in 
her nature than the man, she has remained by the fireside 
collecting and preparing fruit and vegetable foods without 
destroying life, making pots and pans and other necessary 
household utensils, preparing implements of husbandry and 
tilling the soil, loving peace, and reproducing and nourishing 

386 



Brazil 

her specie. While the tnan, on the contrary, fierce and war- 
like in his nature, has busied himself from time immemorial 
making deadly weapons, fighting and slaughtering. The 
woman was the first farmer, the first miller, the first potter 
and basket maker, the first dressmaker and tailor, the first 
beast of burden, and some men think the first ecclesiastic ; 
while the man was the first murderer. 

Every morning, small parties of Bororo females, unarmed, 
may be seen going forth in various directions with huge bas- 
kets on their backs, suspended by bark straps from their fore- 
heads, to explore jungle and forest in search of.fruits and veg- 
etables, many of them reaching out eight or ten miles from 
home, and returning late in the day carrying one hundred 
fifty or more pounds of goose-egg cocoanuts, hearts of dwarf 
palms, wild potatoes, and other food material, and perhaps 
also, transporting a child three or four years old which sits in 
the loop of a bark strap that passes over the mother's shoulders. 
If the man should return, empty handed, from a hunting or 
fishing expedition, he nevertheless requires, Esau-like, that at 
least a "mess of pottage" should await him. 

The Bororo female is betrothed, or, more correctly, is con- 
tracted for in infancy, and married when she reaches the age 
of ten or twelve years. If she is not married, or at least spoken 
for, ere she reaches the age of twelve or fourteen years, she will 
be seized, unawares, some day, dragged to the great hut, and 
forced to become a victim to the lusts of all the men of the 
village. It is a terrible ordeal for the poor, helpless creature, 
and she is nearly, if not altogether done to death at times. Her 
parents, though they may grieve for her, do not, or dare not, 
attempt to rescue her. Her assailants will not enter the pa- 
rental hut to take her. They have, evidently, some idea of the 
sanctity, or the inviolability of the private residence. But they 
catch her by stealth when she is outside the family hut. Be- 
cause of this hideous custom, parents earnestly desire that 
their daughters should at least be contracted for when still 
very young. I was told that they are often contracted for 
when but a few days, or a few months old. 

387 " 



Brazil 

The betrothal is consummated by the bridegroom-to-be, 
depositing at the entrance to the hut of the parents of the baby 
girl whom he desires shall one day become his wife, some much- 
prized game that he has had the "good luck" to capture. The 
parents of course learn, either directly or indirectly, what his 
wishes are in making them this valuable present; and if they 
do not object to the nuptials, their little daughter is reserved 
for him. Again, some day, after the child has reached the age 
of ten or twelve years, the groom-to-be deposits at the en- 
trance to her hut a highly prized fish or animal which he has 
had the good fortune to capture, then retires to his own hut. 
The father of the little maid now takes her by the wrist — 
always the wrist — conducts her to the entrance of the hut 
of her betrothed husband and delivers her to him, and she 
becomes his lawful, wedded wife without further ceremony. 
He may be forty or fifty years of age, and have already a wife 
and married children, though, nevertheless, allowed to have 
two wives because he has slain the jaguar, or performed some 
other feat of valor, or because he is a captain, having passed 
middle life. 

The inhabitants of every Bororo village are divided into 
two groups, called the Sheraidi, and the Ta Nagareda, and a 
man is not permitted to take a wife from his own division, so 
must go to the other party for one. It is said that the Bororo 
tribe as it now exists is composed of two tribes that joined 
fortunes long ago, and that this is the origin of the Sheraidi and 
Ta Nagareda divisions. But I doubt if this is true, for a similar 
social arrangement exists among other tribes. The Bororo 
have a tradition that centuries ago the Sheraidi possessed 
everything that the braidi — white man — now possesses, such 
as axes, hoes, knives, but that a calamity befell them because 
they had these things, so they forsook them. Perhaps the 
tribe was once in touch with the Inca civilization of the Andean 
slope. 

After marriage, the Bororo child-wife may be seen with a 
small basket upon her back, suspended as usual by a bark strap 
from the forehead, accompanying her old husband's senior 

388 



Brazil 

wife, as they roam the forest day after day in quest of fruits 
and vegetables, or industriously assisting in the preparation of 
the food at the family hut. Or, if her old man should be fond 
of her, she may be seen accompanying him at times and amus- 
ing herself in a childish way. 

The Bororo word for man, or men, that is, Bororo men, is 
medo, from meri, the sun, signifying, son of the sun; while the 
word for woman or women, is areda, from ari, the moon, signi- 
fying, daughter of the moon. This indicates the inferiority of 
the woman to the man in their thoughts. The man is the great 
light, while the woman is only a weak, inferior reflection of her 
husband. Nevertheless, the Bororo admire and worship the 
moon, and on a bright moonlight night a large group of them 
may be seen sitting quietly outside the great hut mutely ador- 
ing the queen of night. 

The areda does not appear to have any independent rights 
of citizenship in the tribe, existing solely in her husband and 
for his benefit and pleasure. Hence, "woman's suffrage" is not 
even dreamed of in these primitive societies. The areda is kept 
in complete subjection to her man through fear of the bopi, and 
of the public brothel in the great hut ; for if she displeases him, 
he has but to say the word and she will be dragged to the 
brothel and assaulted by all the medo of the village. Widows, 
or women whose husbands have abandoned them, become 
prostitutes, for a time, at least, or until remarried. 

The customs of this tribe forbid that their children should 
be born within the village. Therefore, when the prospective 
mother begins to feel the pains of maturity, she betakes herself 
to a secluded spot in the jungle, where she remains until she 
brings forth. Then she returns home, or is led back by female 
friends who go in search of her. Like a beast, the primitive 
woman needs no attendant at this supreme moment of her 
existence, and is about her daily occupations again without the 
loss of an hour. It is not uncommon to see Bororo children, 
especially female children, nursing until they are six or seven 
years of age; so large, indeed, that they can stand upon the 
ground and nurse while the mother remains standing. Smaller 

389 



Brazil 

children climb the mother's leg to nurse. She does not appear 
to take any more notice of her child at such times than does a 
mother goat her kid. Bororo families are small. I did not see 
a mother with more than three children. The medo are usually- 
faithful to their wives; that is, they seldom desert them, 
especially if they have children. At rare intervals, one becomes 
dissatisfied with his areda and drives her from his hut, then 
leaving home himself, goes to reside in some other village of 
the tribe. 

Fights between two medo are not uncommon, owing, nearly 
always, to one meddling with the areda of the other. The fight 
is precipitated by the outraged husband, as he perhaps sits at 
work in his hut, beginning to express his opinion of the other 
medo, and to hurl at him offensive epithets. The other medo, 
sitting in his hut at the opposite side of the cluster of huts, 
responds loudly with interest. As they become more and more 
enraged, they challenge each other to fight, prepare themselves 
and come out of their huts, and finally meet on the village play- 
ground ; and every medo, areda, and narageda — child — in the 
local horde abandons at once every occupation and forms a 
circle around the combatants, for an event of this kind is con- 
sidered the finest kind of sport and not to be missed on any 
account. This is a go-as-you-please encounter; there are no 
rules, except that the dualists do not use deadly weapons. So 
they roll and tumble, and kick, and punch, and bite, and scratch 
one another, having the poisonous spine of the fish called sting- 
ray, armed to their little fingers, and bellow and roar contin- 
ually, like fiends. Their powers of endurance are marvelous, 
and the combat often continues many hours. Finally, one is 
vanquished, and he leaves the village and the areda in question 
to the victor, and takes up his residence in a distant village of 
the tribe. The Bororo rarely murder one another. 

The Bororo women are nearly as large and scarcely less 
muscular than the men, and can carry heavy loads great dis- 
tances, having been inured to this from childhood. When a 
family moves from one village to another, or goes forth on a 
two or three months' hunting and fishing expedition during the 

390 



Brazil 

dry season, the areda carries all the family effects, and perhaps 
also a child four or five years old, while her lord marches a few 
paces in advance of her, carrying only his bow and arrows, and 
perhaps also a fire-brand. The party makes but short marches, 
however, halting frequently to rest for an hour or two around 
the little fire which they always kindle, and to roast and eat a 
bit of meat, if they should have it, or to nibble some vegetable 
food. 

Some of the Rio Negro savages, mentioned by Wallace, 
subject their females to a terrible ordeal when they approach 
womanhood. At the first sign of puberty, the poor, innocent 
maiden is placed in seclusion in the family hut where she is 
kept a month and allowed only a small quantity of one kind 
of food, and water, as if she had committed a crime. When the 
time of her imprisonment is about to end, all the relatives and 
friends of the family are assembled, each of whom brings a 
yard or two of the stalk of a heavy climbing plant to use as a 
lash. The unhappy girl is now brought into their presence, 
entirely naked, and each and every person strikes her five or 
six heavy blows across the back and breast with his lash. 
Usually, she falls unconscious under this awful castigation, 
and sometimes dies. If she recovers, the flogging is repeated 
four or five times at intervals of about six hours. Each guest 
must strike hard, for it is considered an insult to the parents 
of the victim not to do so. Finally, when the castigation 
terminates, pots of various kinds of fish and game which have 
been prepared, are set before the company, into which each 
person dips his lash and passes it to the wretched girl to lick. 
She is now considered a woman, and may eat anything she 
wishes, or marry. Boys approaching manhood are subject to 
a somewhat similar ordeal, but not so severe, which initiates 
them into man's estate and allows them to witness the playing 
of the mystery instruments, which correspond to the roarer 
among the Bororo, and also to marry. 

Among these savages, marriages seldom occur between 
relatives or near neighbors, but the swain seeks a wife at a 
distant village of his tribe, or even from another tribe. Having 

391 



Brazil 

fixed upon a maiden, though without her knowledge, his father 
sends a message to the girl's father, saying that he with his 
son and relatives will visit him shortly. The recipient of this 
message readily surmises the object of the visit, and if the 
prospective marriage is agreeable to him, makes preparations 
for a grand festival. Finally, after the festivities have lasted 
two or three days, the bridegroom's party suddenly seize the 
maiden in question, hurry her away to their canoes and disap- 
pear, as if they had kidnapped her. But no attempt is made to 
prevent this act, or to pursue the apparently fleeing party, and 
the girl is henceforth regarded as married. 

Some other tribes test the skill of their young men in 
archery before allowing them to marry; and if one does not 
prove to be a good marksman, the maiden whose hand he seeks 
refuses him on the ground that he has not the skill to shoot 
fish and game enough to sustain a family. 

Resuming our story of life among the Bororo : A very inter- 
esting naming, initiation, or naturalization ceremony, suggest- 
ing a Romish baptism, is observed for all male children while 
still in early babyhood. Early in the morning, at the first 
token of the approach of the "supreme power," the family and 
friends of the little one, whose body has been decorated by 
smearing it with gum and coating it with crimson and white 
feathers, accompanied by a conjurer, take up a position on 
the highest ground in the vicinity of the village; and at the 
meri rutu — sun rising — as the "supreme majesty and power" 
sweeps upward from behind forest and hill, bathing the earth 
in its glorious light, the conjurer pierces the lower lip of the 
embryo warrior with a long, sharp, bone-pointed instrument, 
made especially for the occasion, and beautifully ornamented 
with many-colored feathers, at the same time pronouncing, 
Piaduda, or the name of some other animal or object the name 
of which the child is to bear. Piadudu, softly repeat the family 
and friends ; so Piadudu — humming-bird — a favorite nam,e, be- 
comes the name of the child. The Bororo, like most savages, 
regard their names as deep secrets for religious or other rea- 
sons, refusing to reveal them to any person not a member of 

392 



Brazil. 

their tribe, and always responding pardnkuf — I do not know, 
who does? — when asked their names. This baptismal ceremony- 
is not performed for a female child. 

They love their children, whether boys or girls, and are kind 
to them. Very little parental restraint seems to be exercised 
over them; and they are allowed to roam about and occupy 
themselves entirely as their own wills may suggest. Parents 
seldom or never whip their children. But if a father should 
whip his child, it is regarded as abandoned thereafter, and is 
adopted by relatives. 

The Bororo are remarkable whistlers, and seem able by 
this means to communicate with one another at a distance with 
surprising fullness and clearness. Observing them, I noticed, 
moreover, that when one of them wished to take anything 
from the ground, he did not stoop and grasp it with the hand, 
but instead, took it up with the toes, passing it from the foot 
to the hand. 

They have no words for higher numbers than three or four ; 
therefore, to indicate five, they raise one hand and display the 
fingers and thumb ; for ten, they elevate both hands, displaying 
all the fingers and thumbs ; and for twenty, they elevate both 
hands, droop them for an instant toward the toes, then again 
raise them, saying by this act, twenty. To convey the idea of 
a large number, the hand is given a horizontal swing, pointing 
to the trees of the surrounding forest, which act means to 
say, "as numerous as the trees of the forest." Or, if the prim- 
itive man should be standing on the sand banks by the river, 
he will take up a handful of sand, and, with a sweep of the 
hand, scatter it to the wind, saying by this act, "as numberless 
as the sands." 

One day, I saw a loaf of palm-nut bread delivered to a medo 
at the entrance to the great hut, which he was to divide among 
several of his fellows. I was curious to observe how he would 
divide it, in view of the fact that he could not count. First, he 
cut in into halves, then looked thoughtfully at his companions 
as if calculating how to get an equal portion for each one. 
Then he quartered it and again looked deliberately around. 

393 



Brazil 

Next, he divided the quarters and again glanced carefully about 
him ; and so continued until he had an equal portion for twelve 
or fifteen men, not forgetting to reserve a good hunk for 
himself. 

To calculate time, the moon comes to their aid. It is their 
great natural calendar, as it has been for all the peoples of the 
earth from the earliest age. 



394 



Chapter XXXIV. 

RELIGION— REVOLTING FUNERAL RITES. 

Some of the savage hordes of South America are cannibals. 
They feast upon their enemies with great pomp and ceremony, 
even rearing from infancy the offspring of the enemy in order 
that he may become, when full grown, the material for a grand, 
human barbecue. These cannibal banquets are " the religion, 
pride and joy of the Brazilian savage * * * the triumph 
of the captor, and an expiatory sacrifice to the spirits of their 
brethren who have been slain." A few tribes have, in times of 
famine, devoured their own aged and helpless ones; while in 
still other tribes, the children have eaten their aged parents, 
^believing that in consuming and assimilating their bodies they 
honor them and perpetuate their existence — a crude form of 
the doctrine of transmigration of spirits. Other tribes, again, 
cut off the heads of their enemies, and embalm them by filling 
them with hot sand, and shrinking them until they are about 
the size of a grapefruit, preserving perfectly the form and fea- 
tures. Large sums of money have been paid by collectors for 
these ghastly trophies, which has doubtless inspired the head 
hunters with greater zeal. Some tribes are notorious for the 
revolting practice of abortion, which is brutally effected by 
jumping on the abdomen of the victim. 

Religion, "the conception of the infinite," as Max Muller 
defines it, — the fixed belief that a world of spirits exists, which, 
though encompassing men in the flesh and pervading natural 
objects, yet is hidden from human eyes — occupies a supreme 

395 



Brazil 

place in the thoughts and doings of the Bororo as it does in the 
minds of all the peoples of the earth. Elucidating further, 
Prof. O. T. Mason says that, "In a general sense, religion is 
the sum of what is thought or believed about a spirit world and 
what is done in consequence of such thinking. What is thought 
about such a world constitutes creed, what is done or what a 
people does under its inspiration constitutes the cult. The 
creed and the cult together form the religion of any individual 
or people." 

The religion of the Bororo is expressed chiefly by an elab- 
orate system of diabolical rites and ceremonies for the placa- 
tion of disembodied souls, or spirits, which they call bopi — 
demons ; and a funeral is the occasion for the greatest display 
of the savage ritual, or cult. It is a great musical pandemonium, 
savage dirge, or hell's concert; or a sort of wild man's opera 
or tragic play, enacted by a primitive male quartette, mixed 
chorus and orchestra, and lasts several days and nights, first 
with the body present, and a week later, with the bones present. 

When a member of the tribe becomes so ill that the family 
begins to fear for his life, one of the tribal priests, or sorcerers, 
is summoned to his hut where he lies naked on a palm-leaf 
mat spread upon the ground, to declare whether he will live 
or die. This primitive ecclesiastic may think, inspired with 
wicked cunning, that the sick one will die naturally within a 
certain number of days. Or, he may hold a grudge against 
the stricken man, and may consider this a good opportunity 
to balance accounts. So, in announcing to the family the num- 
ber of days the patient will live, he mentally resolves that if 
death should not occur naturally at the time he shall name, he 
will see to it that it occurs, nevertheless, in some other way. 
Or, again, he may feel that life in the village has long been 
very dull and monotonous, and that there is immediate and 
urgent need of a social function or festival of some kind; and 
what could be more entertaining to the savage public than a 
good funeral bakororo! In this case, also, he will see to it that 
the victim dies at the time he indicates. In any event, he will 
take steps to have his predictions "come true" to the letter, in 

396 



Brazil 

order to maintain his prestige and. reputation. He informs the 
anxious and waiting family of the number of days their loved 
one has to live by touching that number of fingers on his 
uplifted hand, and each time he touches a finger, repeating the 
word, "meri, meri, meri, meri, meri, by" — sun, sun, sun, sun, sun, 
die, — meaning that the patient will see five suns — five days — 
then die. Or, the conjurer may say, "nodua, nodua, nodua, 
nodua, nodua, by," — sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, sleep, die, — 
meaning that the sick one will sleep, or pass five more nights, 
then die. If, at the end of this time, he still lives, the execu- 
tioner, sent of course by the sorcerer, will suddenly enter his 
hut, sit astride of him on his stomach, and strangle him until 
he is dead. The grief-stricken family may stand about moan- 
ing and crying, but will offer no resistance. 

When a Bororo has been summoned from his earthly bat — 
naturally or otherwise — to wander with the demons in their 
world of sadness and gloom, whether the event occur at merid- 
ian or at midnight, the body is immediately rolled up in the 
palm-leaf mat which has served as a bed during life, and borne 
to the great hut where the elaborate funeral ceremonies, or 
bakororo, are at once inaugurated. At the head of the corpse 
stands a quartette of big, burly and entirely nude savages, of 
terrible visages, having their bodies besmeared from head to 
foot with black slush, their heads decorated with large fans of 
brilliant feathers representing the rising or setting sun, and 
holding in their hands gourd-shell rattles larger than a quart 
measure. These lead the medley of uncouth, blood-curdling 
noises, uttering constantly a loud, deep, prolonged, growling, 
roaring, bellowing, diabolical moan, — hee-aw-aw-aw-aw-aw-oo- 
00-00-00-00-00 ah-ah-ah-ah-ah-ah, squatting slightly with each 
wail of woe, and shaking the huge rattles held in each hand. 
Behind these four "children of the sun," stands a group of 
female savages, who howl and wail, mutter, moan and shriek 
an accompaniment, meanwhile not forgetting to fan off the 
flies that light on the bodies of the male quartette in front of 
them. The remaining inhabitants of the village, except the 
family of the deceased, group themselves on both sides of the 

397 



Brazil 

quartette and chorus, the men usually sitting cross-legged on 
palm-leaf mats on the ground, and the women standing. The 
male members of these outer groups are the orchestra, or 
band, composed of four or more pieces, in the manipulation of 
which the primitive musicians relieve one another from time 
to time. These instruments are of two kinds only, and of 
native manufacture. One kind is a sort of bass flute forty 
inches long and three inches thick in the outer half. It is 
made by splitting and hollowing a sapling, then binding the 
halves together into a rough tube by winding them from end 
to end with long strips of bark. The upper half of the instru- 
ment is but an inch or so in diameter. The second instrument 
is a sort of trumpet, made by gouging large openings in each 
end of several oblong calabash shells, five inches in diameter, 
and gumming them together, end to end, with beeswax. But 
one note can be produced with each instrument. The flute 
emits a snorting, snoring sound, the trumpet a barking, roar- 
ing, groaning, diapason note. 

On one side of the corpse — which, at the rites I witnessed, 
was that of a child seven years old — crouched the bereaved 
father and brothers, who moaned, muttered and lamented con- 
tinually in low tones. On the opposite side, kneeled the 
mother, sitting on her heels, her body completely besmeared 
with blood from having been slashed from head to foot with 
sharp-edged shells, while behind her crouched another female 
who, having first rubbed ashes into her scalp, slowly jerked 
out her hair, consuming five or six hours in the operation. At 
the same time, the poor, tortured creature wailed and moaned, 
and uttered lamentations, and jibbered and muttered, reciting 
the virtues of her beloved child. Meanwhile, female relatives 
and friends of the stricken family, placing, each in turn, a foot 
upon the corpse, slashed their legs and arms scores of times, 
and sometimes their entire bodies, with jagged-edged shells — 
reminding one of the priests of Baal — and daubed their bodies 
from head to foot with a black substance, made chiefly from 
the genipapa fruit, all the while moaning, muttering and 
chanting. They do not intend to cut themselves more than 

398 



Brazil 

skin deep, but now and then they accidentally cut deep and 
bleed profusely. The reader will have observed that the males 
do not cut themselves, nor pluck out their hair. They are 
careful not to injure themselves. It is only the nearest female 
relative of the deceased that has her hair jerked out. 

Witnessing these hideous, uncanny and revolting scenes 
of savagery, in the sickening atmosphere and dismal gloom of 
the great hut, and listening to the pandemoniacal uproar or 
medley of infernal noises, one could well imagine that he had 
somehow been cast into the dungeons of the damned, and was 
hearing their shrieks, and wails, and moans of unspeakable 
anguish and despair. White this hideous drama, that only 
savage tragedians are capable of interpreting, was being en- 
acted, and pandemonium was singing and playing its hellish 
hymns, and saying its mass, in this cavernous place; outside, 
a tropical sun was silently inundating the earth with its glor- 
ious effulgence, and all Nature, arrayed more beautifully than 
Solomon in all his glory, sang for joy. 

The first part of this horrid nightmare within the great hut 
with the body present, continues night and day without inter- 
mission, until the first sunset after death ; then, as the king of 
light sinks slowly and majestically behind the western wilder- 
ness, and the shadows of night begin to gather, symbolical of 
the closing forever of life's bright, happy day, and the ushering 
in of the black, sad, hopeless night of the invisible world, the 
savage choir, chorus and orchestra become hushed; and the 
enwrapped remains are borne solemnly to the public play- 
ground just outside the great hut, placed on top of the ground 
and covered by a little mound of earth. Here the body lies for 
a week or more in order that the flesh may decay and separate 
from the bones. Each evening during this time, at the meri de 
codu — the setting of the sun — as the prince of day resigns the 
earth to the rule of night, the sorrowing family and sympathiz- 
ing friends, gather around the sacred mound, and with their 
faces turned toward the dying light, murmur a low, mournful 
chant, pleading the virtues of the lost one, and perhaps also 
recommending him to the good offices of the "supreme power" 

399 



Brazil 

— the sun — or to the protection of the great bopi who are be- 
lieved to dwell in the sun, the shade of their dear one, who, 
being "wicked" and "bad," is doomed to wander forever in the 
regions of darkness and despair, and to plot evil against men 
in the flesh. During the week, too, water is occasionally 
thrown upon the mound to hasten the decay of the corpse. I 
was told that the savages also churn the mound, but did not 
see them do this. During the week, also, the family of the 
deceased crouch frequently in their gloomy abode, and mutter, 
moan and wail. 

A week having elapsed since burial, the time came to dis- 
inter the putrefying remains and prepare for the second part 
of the obsequies with the bones present. The day preceding 
this event was again a gala day in the city of savagery. Dur- 
ing the entire forenoon, a kind of bakororo was held in the 
great hut, but no female of the tribe assisted at these doings. 
During nearly the entire day, too, the forest in the vicinity of 
the village reverberated with insane sounds and infernal noises, 
for groups of savages perambulated the wilds, back and forth, 
swinging the roarer — which will be described later — which 
emitted a variety of unearthly shrieks and sepulchral moans. 
It seemed as if the demons of the pit were out for a holiday 
and holding a picnic in the woods. Within the great hut, dur- 
ing the afternoon, peculiar whistles, beautifully adorned with 
feathers, were sounded at intervals to call the bopi, while one 
of the savages was chosen to represent the soul of the de- 
parted. He was rigged up in a skirt made of long, slender 
palm-leaves hung to a belt, and a cloak and a veil of the same 
material, and made in the same way, while his head was 
adorned with a large fan made of the long, brilliant tail- 
feathers of the macaw. He was accompanied by two adjutants 
with big, gourd-shell rattles in their hands, who stood, one 
behind, the other in front of him. First, the trio danced up 
and down within the great hut, sidewise, crab-like, with legs 
rigid. It seems to be a sort of ecstatic or devil-dance, and 
is continued until the participants appear to have cramps in 
their legs. During this performance, armed sentries guard the 

400 




Bororo Funeral Ceremonies. The mother of the deceased, her hair jerked out and her body 
slashed from head to foot, is chanting just outside the great hut. 



See Chapter xxxiv. 



Brazil 

entrances to the savage hall. Meanwhile, stepping outside the 
great hut, I saw, crouching close to the wall of the hut, the 
mother of the recently deceased, weeping, wailing and jibber- 
ing in a low, squeaky voice which was almost gone, her body 
emaciated, covered with gashes and besmeared with blood. 
She was a most pitiable appearing creature. How cruel are 
the customs of savagery! 

The soul representative and his adjutants next danced and 
jerked themselves outside the great hut into the open air, then 
to the public playground on the edge of the village. Here, 
the trio, totally exhausted, sat on the ground, while an assist- 
ant proceeded to call the bopi in the persons of a few of his 
fellow savages who were to represent them, or act as the 
materialization of the demons. Standing in the center of the 
ring, he beckons and calls, offering perhaps a bit of tobacco to 
induce a few men to volunteer, while the remaining males of 
the village — for only the males participate in this part of the 
funeral rites — stand scattered about in the coarse grass and 
among the scraggy trees beyond the ring. At length, a savage 
offers to represent the bopi by dropping on all fours and begin- 
ning to creep very slowly toward the caller, or ringmaster, 
uttering constantly abdominal squeaks, in imitation, perhaps, 
of the note of the tapir, or of the wild pig. Approaching the 
center of the ring, he springs up suddenly on his hind feet, and 
with upraised arms rushes to the caller, where he takes his 
stand upon a spot prepared for him. Another and another 
volunteers in the same way until five bopi representatives are 
in line in the center of the ring. Balls of clay mud are now 
produced and the five bopi impersonators are painted drab 
from head to foot, black rings are marked around their eyes, 
the black figure of a serpent is sketched coiled around the 
body of one or two, and a quantity of mud is massed into 
their hair. 

The caller now places himself in the path leading to the 
village, and beckons and calls as before, and the bopi repre- 
sentatives again drop on all fours and begin to creep very 
slowly toward him, emitting continuously their weird notes. 

26 401 



Brazil 

At the same time, the remainder of the savage band break 
forth instantly into a wild uproar, yelling and screaming, 
throwing up their hands, dancing and jumping in their mad, 
though mock efforts to drive the bopi into the village, suggest- 
ing a squad of men and boys trying to drive a herd of obsti- 
nate hogs. Suddenly, a horrible shriek rends the air just in 
advance of the materialized bopi. This appears to frighten 
them, for they turn and begin to creep away from the village. 
The drivers now become still more frantic, yelling and shriek- 
ing, bellowing, chattering and jumping fiercely. Soon, how- 
ever, the bopi are again headed toward the village; and enter- 
ing the path, all spring up suddenly on their hind feet, mount 
their horses — fellow savages — gallop into the village, dis- 
mount, and crouch around the mound where the body lies 
buried, and claw the earth slightly, as if about to unearth the 
remains. They now quietly retire, their part in the savage 
rites having ended for the day. 

The soul representative, who had re-entered the village in 
advance of the bopi representatives, now seated himself astride 
of the grave, and the father of the deceased having crouched 
beside him, he performed over him some enchantments to 
route any evil spirit that might be threatening him, or to make 
him invulnerable to their assaults. This he did making passes 
over the bereaved man's head, and muttering and blowing in 
his mouth, nose and ears. Following this, the soul repre- 
sentative deposited all his rigging on the mound save the 
pariko, or fan of brilliant feathers that adorned his head. 

We now witnessed the ceremony of the transference of the 
personal effects of the deceased from this world to the spirit 
world, for the Bororo, in their peculiar way, believe firmly in 
"laying up treasures in heaven." A fire was kindled, around 
which the soul representative, accompanied by an adjutant, 
danced sidewise, stiff-legged, while each article that had be- 
longed to the deceased was passed by the father to the adju- 
tant, who, in turn, handed them to the soul representative, who 
cast them one by one into the fire until all were consumed. 
They were only a few dirty toys, some rude ornaments made 

402 



Brazil. 

of feathers, or of the teeth and claws of beasts, and one or two 
articles of wearing apparel made of bark. To us, they were 
merely a heap of rubbish, but to the poor natives, precious 
treasures. Having vanished in flame, the effects were con- 
sidered transferred to the invisible world, and so transub- 
stantiated that they could be of service to the newly arrived 
shade, or bopi. 

One reason that the Bororo give for burning the belong- 
ings of the deceased is, that if they were allowed to remain in 
the hut, the family, constantly reminded by them of their lost 
ones, would be weeping, wailing and uttering lamentations 
continually, for it is their custom to cry and jibber loudly 
whenever anything revives the memory of their dead. An- 
other reason for burning the effects is, that if they should not 
be burned, and hence not transferred to the shadow land, the 
soul would return to haunt and injure the family. 

It was now about sunset, and the ceremonies of the day 
being concluded, all the men seated themselves cross-legged 
upon mats in two groups just outside the great hut, and a 
primitive banquet, or collation, was served. The banquet 
always forms an important part of every social function among 
savages. — Indeed, a social function among them is inconceiv- 
able without it. But do not banquets, suppers and buffet 
lunches constitute an important part, if not the most impor- 
tant part, of social events among civilized men? Yet civilized 
men do not usually have a banquet at a funeral, with the 
decomposing corpse lying but a few yards in front of them. 

The chief items on the menu at this savage banquet were 
big clay potfuls of a kind of broth made of a starchy liquid 
wrung from the spongy stems of a dwarf palm and mixed with 
a sauce made from the yellow, insipid fruit of the burity-palm, 
called pyky (peekee), pyky eaten raw, three kinds of wild 
potatoes, boiled or baked in the ashes, and a sort of cocoa- 
nut bread made by pulverizing in a mortar the meats of palm- 
nuts and baking the mass in the ashes. There were no condi- 
ments. As each pot or tray of food appeared, a cheer was 
given by the group for whom it was intended. 

403 



Brazil 

That same night, at the midnight hour, while the village 
slept, the decomposing remains were lifted, supposedly by the 
bopi, or by men acting secretly under their orders, for no one 
is supposed to know the ghouls. They may be appointed by 
the sorcerer, or by the captains ; or are volunteers as hereto- 
fore indicated. These men lift the fetid mass by means of the 
pole that passes inside the roll and protrudes from each end 
of the mound, carry it to the river and clear the bones of the 
flesh as best they can; then packing the bones in a basket, 
deposit them in the great hut, where they are found when the 
village awakes at dawn, ready for the final ceremonies. At the 
funeral rites I witnessed, the skull had been kept separate from 
the rest of the bones, and resting on a palm-leaf tray, partly 
buried in white down, was being overlaid with bright feathers, 
plucked from the breast of the macaw, while the bakororo was 
being sung. As the deceased was the little daughter of one of 
the chief men, the remains were treated with special honors. 

At the meri rutu — the birth of the sun — the following morn- 
ing, the demoniacal din and tumult of the savage choir, chorus 
and orchestra, as of a hundred wild beasts in deadly combat, 
was again unchained in the gloomy interior of the great hut; 
and the female relatives and friends of the departed burst forth 
anew with loud lamentations, and wept, wailed and muttered, 
and vociferated like the laughter of hyenas, and slashed their 
bodies afresh with jagged edged shells until they were daubed 
with gore, and again smeared themselves with the black slush. 
These fearsome and sickening scenes, and smells, and sounds, 
especially when witnessed at night in the sepulchral darkness 
that reigned within the great hut, could not fail to powerfully 
affect one who had never before listened to a hallelujah chorus 
in hell, and to make impressions upon the mind that can 
never be effaced. 

The second part of the funeral bakororo, or ceremony, with 
the bones present, may continue without a recess for two or 
three days and nights, with the exception, perhaps, of one 
intermission of eight or ten hours for a fishing expedition, the 
primitive tragedians relieving one another from time to time. 

404 



Brazil. 

When the immediate family of the deceased have howled, 
warled and chanted until they can scarcely articulate, they 
drink clay water, asserting that this relieves the throat 
somewhat. 

Finally, I saw the basket of bones taken by the mother of 
the deceased, and buried in the little cemetery two or three 
miles from the village, where, it was believed, the bopi would 
take possession of them in a few weeks. The sorcerer is be- 
lieved to know when the bopi removes the bones. 

A day or two after the conclusion of the funeral rites I wit- 
nessed, the father of the deceased, sent by the village author- 
ities, disinterred the basket of bones and brought it back 
to the great hut. Three of the chief men from a distant village 
had arrived on a visit, whom it was necessary to receive with 
honors and entertain with the best festival the village could 
get up. And what could equal for entertainment a good 
funeral bakororo f But how could they have a funeral 
bakororo without a corpse, or at least the bones? As soon as 
the basket of bones was again brought into the great hut, pan- 
demonium was once more in session, and the rattling, roaring, 
groaning, squatting, snorting, barking, weeping and wailing 
continued all the rest of the day and all night. At daybreak, 
the following morning, an intermission was taken in order that 
the players and actors in this savage drama might go fishing. 
They fished and hunted all day that they might have some- 
thing to feast upon, for, of course, a bakororo without a banquet 
would scarcely be a bakororo. But when the darkness of night 
again enshrouded the land, the hideous uproar of the savage 
horde again burst upon our ears and did violence to the peace 
and tranquillity of the night until the dawn, when it was once 
more hushed, and the basket of bones was again entombed. 

Some of the Indians of the Rio Negro, hereinbefore men- 
tioned, a score or two of families of whom live in one immense 
hut, — a primitive "flat," — always bury their dead inside this 
hut under a few inches of earth, depositing the tobacco, orna- 
ments and trinkets of the deceased in the grave with him. 
Some days after burial, a large quantity of fermented liquor is 

405 



Brazil. 

prepared, and all the relatives and friends of the bereaved 
family are called together to mourn for the dead and to dance, 
sing and wail to his memory. The largest of these human 
hives have had more than one hundred graves in them ; but 
where the hut is small, or becomes crowded with graves, inter- 
ments are made just outside. 

It is the custom of yet other tribes to disinter the corpse 
a month after burial, when it has reached an advanced 
state of decay, put it into a great pan, or oven, over the fire, 
and roast it until all the volatile substances are driven off, 
which operation fills the savage family hotel with the most 
dreadful stench. At length, nothing remains but a black, car- 
bonaceous mass, which is pounded until reduced to a fine 
powder, then mixed in several large, wooden troughs of fer- 
mented liquor, and drank by the assembly of mourners until 
all is consumed. The savages believe that in this way the 
virtues of the deceased are transmitted to all who drink of 
this revolting beverage. 



406 



Chapter XXXV. 

THE SORCERERS.— EXORCISING AND FRIGHTEN- 
ING AWAY DEMONS.— THE MYSTERY 
INSTRUMENTS. 

The souls of the departed are believed by the Bororo to 
dwell, for a time at least, in the bodies of certain fish and 
mammals. But they do not appear to identify the disem- 
bodied soul — bopi — with the creature it inhabits, as do those 
people who believe in what is known as "transmigration of 
the soul." The Bororo soul is simply a tenant in the body of 
the creature it inhabits, maintaining a separate, independent 
existence, and continuing forever, supposedly, without any 
change occurring in its personality or character; though it is 
doomed to suffer evictions everlastingly from its temporary 
fleshly abodes at the hands of the conjurer, or because of the 
natural death and destruction of the body of the creature it 
lives in. The Bororo say that the moment a newly disem- 
bodied spirit — the soul of a member of their tribe who has 
just died — enters the body of some creature, the bones of the 
soul's former self disappear from the cemetery. The evil- 
minded sorcerer, doubtless, is responsible for the disappear- 
ance of the bones — if they really disappear. The Bororo do 
not think that every wild creature is tenanted by some wan- 
dering bopi — soul — but only those that bear unusual markings, 
such as especially bright colors, or are very large, or have 
some other peculiarity. They much admire a fish called 
dourada by the Brazilians, part of the body of which is a bright, 

407 



Brazil 

golden color, and like to think that the spirits of their beloved 
dead dwell in the bodies of these fish. Nevertheless, they 
catch them in large numbers and eat them, believing that only 
the unusual individuals are inhabited by a bopi. But while 
they do not think that all the fish of any specie shelter lost 
souls in their bodies, they do think, seemingly, that every tapir, 
and every wild pig, and every alligator, and possibly every 
member of some other family of animals, shelters the shade 
of one or another of their departed tribesmen ; and they never 
kill one of these creatures when a sorcerer is not within reach 
to exorcise the soul, for they dare not under any circumstances 
eat the flesh of such a creature until the sorcerer has cast out 
the soul. They believe that if they should eat of it, they would 
surely die. Doubtless the sorcerer would see to it that death 
resulted from such sacrilege^ for if one should eat of such 
flesh and suffer no harm, like going to heaven without the aid 
of masses, the lucrative business of exorcising demons would 
come to naught, and the crafty sorcerer, like Demetrius and 
his crowd, would be ruined. This functionary always helps 
himself to the first and best cut from every carcass over which 
he performs his incantations to expell a demon. His fellow- 
tribesmen always treat him well, as they dread to incur his 
displeasure. 

The ceremony of exorcising a bopi from the body of a fish, 
for instance, usually occurs late in the afternoon, and at the 
entrance to the hut of the sorcerer where the carcass has been 
deposited for this purpose. The sorcerer stands over the 
carcass, having his feet wide apart, arms uplifted and out- 
stretched, entire body rigid and trembling violently, as if he 
had clonic spasms or convulsions, and face upturned toward 
the declining sun upon which he calls in a series of wild, 
maniacal yells. Following this, he relaxes somewhat and slaps 
the carcass rapidly and hysterically from end to end, uttering 
continuously strange noises, and finally, expectorates and 
blows into its mouth. This ceremony lasts but a few minutes. 

Corn also appears to have some connection with the 
demons, or is under a taboo, for the Bororo will not, under any 

408 



Brazil 

circumstances, eat corn from a field until a few ears have first 
been brought to the sorcerer that he may perform his incan- 
tations over them, biting into them, dog-like. After this, the 
corn from that field may be freely gathered and eaten without 
further ceremony. 

The souls of the departed, the bopi, are believed also to 
haunt and plot evil against the living, who pass their days in 
almost constant fear, and even in terror, because of them. 
Every few days, one or another of these superstitious children 
of the wilds imagines he sees a ghost or spook skulking in 
the jungle, or some strange object or shadow, or peculiar 
movement of the branches of the trees, or hears an unusual 
or seemingly uncanny sound. In a frenzy, he hastens to 
report what he has seen or heard, and, instantly, the whole 
city of savagery is wildly excited. These spooks, or wander- 
ing souls are nearly always seen just as solemn, mysterious 
night is taking possession of the land. Sometimes, the scare 
is a pure invention of the sorcerer. 

These sorcerers, or tribal priests, are not chosen or ap- 
pointed by men, the Bororo say, but by the bopi. Their call- 
ing to the priestly office appears to be somewhat in this man- 
ner: Some day, a Bororo, is taken with some kind of a fit, 
and the village sorcerer, is called in to declare the nature of 
the case, and to say if the patient will live or die. Having 
considered the matter cunningly, he may say to the family 
something like this : " Piadudu is in mortal combat with a bopi. 
If he surrenders to the demon he will become a sorcerer, but if 
he continues to resist, he will die." If Piadudu recovers, it 
is thought that he has given himself up to the bopi, and 
therefore fully qualified for the priesthood. But it seems to 
me that the certificate of priesthood lies largely in the ability 
of a Bororo to throw himself at will into a savage ecstasy or 
trance ; or he may possess some powers of " mediumship," or 
metaphysical powers believed to emanate from the bopi, to- 
gether with a good degree of native cunning and ready wit. 
These sorcerers are the most depraved men in the tribe. They 
are the bane of tribal life. They must nurture the illusion 

409 



Brazil 

that they have communications with and influence in the spirit 
world, and know what is occurring there; and have power 
to cause and avert evils and calamities. Hence, they are ever 
on the alert to seize upon every propituous occasion, and even 
to invent occasions to make merchandise of the superstitious 
fears of their fellow tribesmen for their own profit and ag- 
grandizement. 

As regards the ordinary civilized man, knowledge forces 
the mysterious, the unknown, the infinite, back from his im- 
mediate presence, compelling it to remain at a distance, 
thus enabling him to pass his days more or less unmindful 
of its existence. But to the primitive man, with his limited 
knowledge of the processes of Nature, the world about him 
is pregnant with mystery; it presses close upon him on all 
sides and he cannot be indifferent to it. The mysterious — 
that which is beyond his knowledge — the infinite — literally 
stares him in the face at every turn, and he is unable to fathom 
it. Ignorant of causes, he views with superstitious thoughts 
every event, and everything in Nature that is in any degree 
unusual or abnormal — everything that seems to project, never 
so little, beyond the dead monotony of natural phenomena. 
Indeed, his knowledge is so limited, and his imagination so 
easily inflamed, that he readily creates for himself all sorts 
of unusual occurrences and phantasms without any founda- 
tion. His imagination is most active during the hours of dark- 
ness. Like a timid child, he sees terrifying shapes everywhere. 
The thunder and lightning, the wind, the sun and the moon in 
their various phenomena, the cries of birds and beasts, and 
the direction from which they cry, all convey to his uncul- 
tured mind some omen of good or evil. If the kowd (a bird) 
utters its cry at evening from the east, it means that " white 
man come ; " and if from the west, " Bororo die." 

Our Bororo friends who crowded about us during the 
whole of every day, always withdrew from our hut at sunset, 
retiring to their village, and we usually saw no more of them 
until daybreak. But late in the evening on two or three oc- 
casions, we heard a tramping of barefooted men approaching 

410 



Brazil 

our hut, and immediately thereafter a horde of excited and 
frightened savages swarmed in upon us. The cause of their 
alarm was quickly explained to us: One of their number had 
imagined he saw the forms of strange men moving about 
mysteriously in the jungle near the village, which was in- 
terpreted by some of his fellows to mean that the soldiers 
were coming to attack and carry them away. At another 
time, apparitions of the dead were thought to have been seen ; 
so the following day the natives solemnly and mysteriously 
prepared the roarers in order to frighten away the threaten- 
ing evil. 

It is partly, or chiefly, to pacify departed souls by honoring 
them and giving them a good send off, that the elaborate 
funeral ceremonies already described, occur. And the fact 
that nearly all the rites and ceremonies of the Bororo are ob- 
served for the pacification of demons is the reason why the 
ritual is so hideous and diabolical. Men whose gods are devils 
only, can have nothing but a devilish ceremonial. 

As already stated, the Bororo, like the Karaya, entertain 
an anamistic conception of the world. They do not appear 
to have any idea of a good spirit, or good spirits. Attempting 
to translate the word God into their language, or to communi- 
cate to them in a small degree the thought that this word 
stands for, we had to make use of the words, Bopi camahina 
pemegdre irnducdre, which is literally, Spirit, greatest, good, 
without equal. But this is quite unsuitable for a permanent 
translation and a word for God would have to be translit- 
erated, or a new word coined. 

Mingling with the Bororo, one somehow gets the impres- 
sion that perhaps they once had a conception of a good spirit. 
But, as the good spirits never did them any harm, nor threat- 
ened them with evil, while numerous evil spirits are constantly 
menacing them, they came naturally to devote so much at- 
tention to the latter that they long ago forgot all about the 
former. Thus they have degenerated in mind and heart, it 
would seem, with the result that in the whole outward ex- 
pression of their lives, they have retrograded from a higher 
to a lower social and moral state. 

411 



Brazil. 

' The suii, being the greatest force in nature known to them, 
is regarded as a sort of supreme being, or as the seat of supreme 
power. The sorcerers are believed to enjoy a kind of heaven 
after death, being exalted to an abode in the sun, calling to 
mind the heaven of the Incas; but the ordinary Bororo is 
doomed to wander in the lower regions. 

Besides seeking to placate disembodied spirits, or demons, 
or " lay the ghost," the Bororo also seek to frighten them 
away from the abodes of the living. To accomplish this, they 
make use of a peculiar instrument that ethnologists call the 
roarer. The sound producer is a slab of wood about half an 
inch thick, three to six inches broad, one or two feet long, 
fish formed, and having black spots painted all over it. This 
is hung to a long cord which is secured to the end of a ten- 
foot rod; and to sound it, it is swung round and round over 
the head horizontally. As this slab swings it revolves rapidly 
upon its axis and emits a series of blood-curdling sounds that 
can be heard half a mile or more, varying from a loud, 
diapason, sepulchral moan to an unearthly shriek. This 
frightful and prolonged wail rises and falls in pitch accord- 
ing to the rapidity with which the instrument is swung, or 
according to its size. To hear the music ( ?) of an orchestra of 
these instruments, or rather, their awful, demoniacal shrieks 
and wails, gives one most unusual sensations, the remem- 
brance of which can never be effaced. The uncanny feeling 
is intensified if heard, as I once heard it, while a tropical storm 
is raging ; for the flashing of the lightnings, the ceaseless peal 
and roar and crash of the celestial artillery, the falling floods 
and the thickening gloom, played and displayed a terrible ac- 
companiment to the unearthly music. 

No female of the tribe, woman or child, is allowed to look 
upon this instrument under pain of death. The men appear to 
make new ones when occasion demands their use, and to 
burn them immediately after the occasion has passed. I en- 
tered the great hut once while they were preparing them for 
a funeral prelude. Profound silence was maintained, and 
the savages whispered mysteriously the word bopi. Certain 

412 



Brazil 

warning calls are given frequently for some "hours in advance 
of the time when the instruments are to be brought into 
use. Hearing these warnings the females enter their huts, 
close the openings and hide their heads. The roarers are 
always manipulated outside the village up and down through 
the bush, and at openings in the forest. 

Many other tribes have mystery instruments and practice 
demon music. Wallace, describing those of some Rio Negro 
tribes, says that their instruments are pipes, or tubes, like 
great bassoons or trumpets, and produce sounds somewhat like 
trombones or clarinets. One kind is made of bamboo or palm- 
stems, hollowed out, while others are made of bark, twisted 
spirally and have mouthpieces of leaves. Each instrument pro- 
duces but one note, but several pairs are played at the same 
time, each pair being of the same size and emitting the same 
note. A simple tune is played, revealing unusual taste for 
savages; and though the music sounds strange and wild, it 
is somewhat pleasing. The musicians wave the instruments 
about in a peculiar manner, vertically and sidewise, while 
playing them, and accompany these movements with corre- 
sponding contortions of the body. These instruments are 
considered a great mystery. No female of the tribe must 
ever look upon them under pain of death. From the first mo- 
ment this mystery music is heard, not a female, young or old, 
is to be seen for all have hidden themselves away in the woods. 
If a female should see one of these instruments, either acci- 
dentally or by design, she would be put to death, usually by 
poisoning; and a father will not hesitate to become the exe- 
cutioner of his own daughter, or a husband of his wife. Even 
where there is only a suspicion that the instrument has been 
seen by forbidden eyes, no mercy is shown. 

I experienced difficulty in getting possession of two or 
three of the roarers for my collection. The Bororo were very 
reluctant to let me have them, fearing that their women might 
catch sight of them in some way. But they finally brought 
them to our hut, one at a time, under cover of darkness, after 
having borrowed blankets from us in which to roll them, and 

413 



Brazil. 

delivered them to me with a solemn, mysterious air. Even 
after the instruments were in our possession, these super- 
stitious people manifested great solicitude in having us hide 
them away in the bottom of a box, and placing the box itself 
in an inaccessible place. 

We also had difficulty in securing the big bass flutes 
used at the funeral bakororo. They were not kept hidden 
from any member of the tribe, yet the savages were loathe 
to part with them for some superstitious reasons. When I 
asked a captain to get me a pair, he looked solemn and mys- 
terious, and said by words and signs: "The captain" (my- 
self) " must not take this instrument away with him. It is 
a very bad instrument; whoever carries it away will never 
more return." In saying that it was " bad," he meant that it 
was " bad medicine," that it would bring " bad luck " to 
the possessor. Perhaps the old pagan was not far wrong 
after all, for contrary to my expectations, and to my great 
disappointment, I have not yet been able to return to their 
villages. 



414 



Chapter XXXVI. 

FOLLOWING THE WILD MAN'S TRAIL.— LIFE IN A 

SAVAGE CLUB-HOUSE.— FLOATING DOWN 

THE RIO POGtjBU. 

While we had our headquarters near the Ta Dare Mano 
Paro village, we made a visit to the Kogi au Paro village of 
the same tribe some twenty miles distant. 

We followed a trail used only by the savages, and over 
which no civilized man had ever before passed. It led largely 
through a forest which was so dense in many places, that the 
trail was like an opening through a thick hedge, or through a 
wall. This opening was just large enough to permit the 
naked wild man to pass comfortably. But we were mounted 
on mules, and had one mule carrying two boxes containing 
our cooking outfit and food. Consequently, we had to make 
the hole larger on all sides. Even after our muleteer, who 
led the way on foot, had enlarged the opening, we were com- 
pelled to practice rough riding continually to avoid being 
raked off our beasts, or having our limbs crushed. Besides, 
our passage was barred by many deep ravines, gulches, wash- 
outs and streams, the banks of which were often nearly ver- 
tical. Our mules were experts in descending the banks, 
for they would bunch up their feet, like mountain goats, 
and slide down. But, in many cases, they were unable to climb 
out on the other side until we had dug steps with a grubbing- 
hoe. There was often deep water in these places. We also 
encountered at nearly every step great bunches of wild pine- 

415 



Brazil 

apple plants, to touch which was like running into a barbed- 
wire fence, for one's clothes would be torn and the flesh 
lacerated. This plant hooks into whatever touches it, even 
piercing one's boots. Moreover, swarms of flies of many- 
varieties, the bites of which cause itching wounds, pursued 
us constantly; while various kinds of wood-ticks, some of 
which are nearly as large as the potato beetle, fastened them- 
selves upon us. This insect has a fearful head-gear, but, some- 
how, one is never aware of its presence until it has taken 
firm hold ; then if one tries to remove it by force, either its 
head will be left buried in the flesh, or a piece of flesh will be 
torn out. To add to our discomfiture, the heat was intense, 
and our thirst so insatiable that we wished our throats were 
mill-races. 

We expected to have reached the Kogi au Paro village 
in one day, but so much time was consumed in enlarging the 
opening through the forest that we were still in the middle 
of the woods when night overtook us. Therefore, we sus- 
pended our hammocks under the trees, prepared and ate our 
supper, and tried to make ourselves comfortable for the night, 
hoping to secure restful sleep for we were excessively fatigued 
from struggling through the vegetable walls and entangle- 
ments. But in planning for a peaceful night, we had not 
reckoned with animate Nature. Animate Nature does not limit 
a day's work to eight or ten hours. In the Brazilian wilder- 
nesses she labors twenty-four hours each day. The " day 
gangs " of insects that persecuted us had scarcely retired from 
the field when the " night gangs " came on. The mosquitoes 
came in swarms, of all sizes and capacities, ready for every 
kind of work. Some of them were so small that they could fly 
through our mosquito netting with extended wings, but they 
could bite out of all proportion to their size. The ants were 
also in evidence. When the mosquitoes drove me out of 
my hammock and I set my feet on the ground, I stepped among 
army corps of foraging ants which swarmed over my feet, 
biting, or stinging, as they ran. Fleeing from them in the 
inky darkness, I accidently brushed my hand against a coat 

416 




Cutting a Trail through the Primitive Forest. 



See Chapter xxj 



Brazil 

which was hanging on a tree, and some large, black ants that 
sting worse than a hornet, planted their stings into the joints 
of my fingers. Altogether, I felt as if I were on fire. But 
near morning, we got a little respite from the mosquitoes, for 
a fog settled down over the forest. As soon as the sun ap- 
peared above the horizon, the " day gangs " of our little tor- 
mentors renewed the attack. 

All during the second day we continued to carve our way 
through the tangled vegetation, and to drag ourselves along, 
arriving at our destination at nightfall, exhausted, and nearly 
in tatters. To increase our discomfiture, we were short of 
food, for our cook had neglected to bring along any beef 
other than the potful he had boiled just before we begun our 
journey. Therefore, we had to eat sparingly; and to fry 
the whole potful again and again, each time we dined, to keep 
it from spoiling. 

We were a freak to the primitive citizens of the Kogi au 
Paro village, many of whom having never before seen a 
braidi — white man. The women and children, especially, came 
out of their huts, and standing at the entrances, like prairie- 
dogs on their hillocks, gazed intently at us with fear and 
curiosity. 

This village had swarmed some time previous to our visit, 
and was now two villages. The new brood occupied open 
ground near the river, but the mother horde lived in the 
wildest locality that I have ever seen human beings dwell 
in. To reach it, we had to cross the river Pogubu, which was 
between one and two hundred yards wide, with a strong, 
flood-like current. Having nothing with which to ferry our- 
selves over, we had to plunge in and swim, towing our baggage 
over, assisted by two Bororo, on a rude float made by binding 
together three bunches of bamboo rods. There was but one 
spot on the opposite side of the river where we could get 
ashore, owing to the impenetrable masses of bushes and trees 
that lined the edge of the water and reached far out into it. 
To allow for the current, and to avoid striking below this 
particular spot, we had to work up at the edge of the river 

27 417 



Brazil 

some distance before casting ourselves into the current. 
Missing the landing place, there was great danger of our 
losing, not only our effects, but our lives as well. 

We found the cluster of huts situated about one mile back 
from the river, and in the heart of the densest and most im- 
passable upland tangle that I have ever seen. The trees 
were fifty feet high and less, and almost numerous enough to 
form a thick forest, while below them, the whole country was 
overgrown by a terrible jungle of bushes, briars and coarse 
grass. A small, circular space, like a gigantic nest, had been 
cleared in the center of this forbidding thicket, in which fifteen 
or twenty palm-branch huts clustered in the usual disorder. 
This wild man's lair was approached by a serpentine path 
just wide enough to allow men to pass in single file. The 
village was hidden away in this manner in order that its 
position might not be known to enemies, or that it might be 
very difficult to assault. 

We were conducted at once to the great hut, where we 
were entertained while in the village, and in one corner of 
which we suspended our hammocks and made ourselves as 
comfortable as circumstances would permit. But we found 
this a hot, stuffy, ill-smelling hotel, and in addition, the mos- 
quitoes were very numerous and industrious. 

As soon as we were settled, we asked to see the chief man 
of the village, who appeared. He was six feet tall, well pro- 
portioned, intelligent and dignified, and the finest appearing 
Bororo I had seen. He seemed to have more real authority, 
too, than any Bororo captain I had met. The Bororo have 
no tribal chief. Each village governs itself, independently, 
having a few elderly men who are captains, in a way, by 
reason of seniority, in whom the chief authority is vested. 
But their powers, and the obedience rendered them, seem 
to be variable and uncertain. A strong character may arise 
from time to time, and by favoring circumstances, reach a 
position where he may command the entire obedience of his 
village. But ordinarily, the chief men do not appear to possess 
much real authority, individually. Of course, when they go 

413 



Brazil 

to war, they must choose one as their leader; or one becomes 
such by mutual consent. We gave the Kogi au Paro chief 
some presents, which seemed to please him much, and he 
returned the favor, bringing us some vegetables. 

Next morning, soon after daybreak, and after the singing 
of the bakororo, which is sung at dawn in this village as 
well as at dusk, the men of the village gradually assembled 
in the great hut, and sitting cross-legged on their mats, occu- 
pied themselves in various ways. Several worked at making 
bows and arrows, cordage and nets ; a few shook out raw 
fibre preparatory to rolling it on their knees into threads ; 
one or two spun cotton, rolling it between the palms of the 
hands, then winding it on a rude, wooden spindle; one man 
wove, or crochetted, a narrow cotton belt by means of a 
peculiar little contrivance made by binding together two small 
reeds; another made a kind of bead by boring holes through 
shell or stone discs and making them uniform in diameter by 
stringing them tightly together and passing a sort of whet- 
stone over them as they were held firmly upon a block. The 
holes were bored through the discs by revolving rapidly be- 
tween the palms of the hands, a stone-pointed instrument, like 
a large lead-pencil. The Bororo kindle a fire in much the 
same manner, revolving a pointed wooden rod as it rests 
upon a certain kind of wood. Various other articles were in 
process of manufacture in this primitive workshop. A few 
men who were not occupied, lay stretched full length on their 
palm-leaf mats, dozing, or occasionally exchanging a few words 
with one another in voices that were partly mumbling speech, 
and partly like the purring of a cat. The Bororo artificer 
works very slowly, for nearly two entire days are consumed 
in the making of a single arrow, which, however, is made 
with almost infinite care. But time is of no value to these 
people. 

The Sheraidi and the Ta Nagareda divisions, into which the 
Kogi au Paro village, in common with all other Bororo en- 
campments is divided, sat in separate groups, each occupying 
one-half the great hut. These two divisions hunt, fish, play 

419 



Brazil 

and eat, and in fact, do everything independently of each 
other. 

As this was the season of green corn, all the savages 
brought with them into the great hut, one or more roasted ears, 
which they paused, momentarily, in their work to slowly pick 
a few kernels from and eat them, or to smoke a whiff or two 
from a cigarette. Whenever one of them obtained a bit of 
tobacco, he prepared it for smoking by first pulverizing it, 
then rolling it up in a leaf in the form of a cigarette. When 
they have no tobacco, which they seldom do, they substitute 
for it certain leaves, which they roll into cigars. 

A few hours after sunrise, an arcda appeared at the en- 
trance to the Sheraidi end of the great hut, and handed in a 
clay pot containing about eight quarts of corn that had been 
cut from the cob and boiled, and a moment later, a similar pot 
of corn was delivered at the Ta Nagareda entrance, being one 
for each of the two parties. To eat, each group squatted or 
stood around its pot and scooped out the food with large 
shells, or with broad leaves folded to look like small sugar- 
scoops. I naturally supposed that these two pots of corn, 
in addition to the roasted ears that all had been nibbling dur- 
ing the morning, would make an ample breakfast for the 
thirty-three individuals in the hut. But, to my surprise, 
another pot containing a similar quantity of stewed corn) 
soon after appeared at the Sheraidi entrance to the primitive 
dining-hall, followed a moment later by another at the Ta 
Nagareda entrance ; then, to my astonishment, more pots 
of corn continued to be passed in at each end of the big hut 
every ten or fifteen minutes, until a total of fifteen or six- 
teen had been brought in. This required each man to eat at 
least three or four quarts of corn during eighty minutes, in 
addition to the roasted ears each had consumed. As the two 
medo who had accompanied us from the Ta Dare Mano Paro 
village were guests of the local horde on this occasion, it was 
interesting to observe the etiquette shown in their treatment 
of them. As each pot was brought in and placed upon the 
ground, two members of the group receiving it would trot 

420 



Brazil 

over to each visitor in a stooping position, grasp him by the 
wrist, and trot him up to the pot, as much as to say, serve 
yourself, but without uttering a word. Thus these two men 
ate freely from every pot each group received, though they 
were occasionally trotted off to a fresh pot while still devour- 
ing from one. The observer wonders what is the size of 
their stomachs, and if they did not get their fill for once. But 
there seems to be no limit to the eating capacity of the primi- 
tive man. After all the stewed corn was consumed, which 
was eaten without any condiments whatever, a bushel of 
roasted ears was brought in, as a dessert, and also promptly 
devoured. But this was the one big meal of the day for the 
savage horde, except when food is very abundant; though 
when they can obtain it, they nibble at various bits of food 
during the entire day and evening. 

To supplement our scant supply of food, we obtained from 
the natives some corn which was nearly ripe. This our cook 
prepared for eating by shelling it and breaking it up a little 
in a rude mortar; then making it into small loaves which he 
rolled up in large green leaves and baked in the ashes. 

We determined not to return by land to the Ta Dare Mano 
Paro village, if we could avoid it ; but instead, to make a raft 
and descend the river Pogubu with our baggage, while our 
muleteer, only, should return by land with our beasts. 

One afternoon, therefore, having induced a number of 
Bororo to join us, we went down to the river to make the 
raft. I was the only one of our party who had ever had any 
experience with rafts, nevertheless, each one wished to be 
master ship-builder. We had much difficulty in gathering the 
material and getting it down to the water's edge, though 
there was plenty of it in the woods, for after each Bororo 
had brought down an armful, he did not care to return for 
more. 

To construct the raft, we first cut two cedar logs nine feet 
long and nine inches in diameter, placed them parallel upon 
the ground, five feet apart, notched them deep at each end, and 
bound onto them cross pieces of light wood. This formed the 

421 



Brazil 

" keel," or foundation of our craft. On this we laid crosswise, 
and bound, bundles of bamboo poles eight feet long, and over 
these again we placed binding poles to make everything as 
strong and firm as possible. We had no nails, or spikes, or any- 
thing of this kind, or any tools beyond a straight-handled axe 
and long knives. We therefore bound our raft together with 
strips of the inner bark of a certain tree, which is tough and 
strong. But not having an auger with which to bore holes 
for wooden pins, we could not make the raft firm and sea- 
worthy. 

We experienced difficulty in launching it the next morn- 
ing, for nearly all the Bororo had gone off on a hunting ex- 
pedition, leaving but one or two to assist us. To get it into 
the water from the high bank where it was built, we had to 
work it down a steep, muddy place, and at the same time, 
avoid breaking it up, or turning it over. But finally, the 
launching was successfully accomplished. We were anxious 
to return to our headquarters as soon as possible as our pot 
of boiled, fried beef was nearly exhausted, and other food was 
scarce; moreover, life in the gloomy, stifling, insect-infested 
" club-house " of the wild men, was not attractive to us. 

Having floated our raft, we cut two long bamboo poles 
with which to control it somewhat, and provided ourselves 
with an oar by cutting a small sapling terminating in a fork 
and weaving strips of bark between the prongs. We then 
embarked with our little baggage and pushed out into the 
current, our ship's company being Senhor Antonio, Senhor 
Guveia and myself. We were now afloat on the only craft 
that had ever carried men in these waters, and navigating 
a river that had never been navigated in its upper reaches. All 
went well for a few minutes and we were feeling proud of 
our good little ship that floated us so nicely, and congratu- 
lating ourselves on how easily and pleasantly we would re- 
turn to our " ranch," thus escaping the dreadful travel through 
the jungle. But suddenly, as we swept around a bend, we 
saw with intense alarm, that the current was apparently bear- 
ing us, with irresistible force, straight into the branches of 

422 



Brazil. 

a big tree that stretched far out over the water and into it. 
We knew that if we struck that place, we and our baggage 
would be raked off into the water. t We worked like Trojans, 
poling and paddling to clear the danger. But, we now dis- 
covered how unwieldy our craft was and how insufficient was 
our means of governing it, as it seemed not to respond in the 
least to our efforts. Worse, each of us thought he was cap- 
tain, and one yelled " push this way " while another gave an 
opposite order. Happily, and greatly to our surprise, the 
current carried us inside the danger point, so we escaped with 
only a slight brushing. We now knew that all our excited 
efforts had really been to force ourselves into the danger in- 
stead of away from it. All went well again for a short time, 
when we once more swung around a bend and found ourselves 
bearing down rapidly upon a big snag in the middle of the 
stream. We knew that if we should strike it, our float would 
go to pieces. Again, there was great excitement and the 
captains shouted their opposing orders, but the pushing and 
paddling seemed wholly unavailing. Finally, as we were 
about to resign ourselves to apparently unavoidable fate, our 
good raft took a swirl and cleared the obstruction by several 
feet; and again we saw that our frantic efforts had tended to 
our destruction instead of our salvation. An Invisible Hand 
was evidently guiding us. 

Experiences similar to these, figuratively speaking, occur 
frequently in the life of every person. Peering into the fu- 
ture with anxious distrustful thoughts, one sees, in imagina- 
tion, numerous dangers and evils obstructing his path, toward 
which some mysterious force seems to be sweeping him un- 
erringly. So, forgetting altogether the kind Heavenly Father 
who watches over all His creatures with infinite love and 
solicitude, tenderly guiding the bark of even the most lowly 
and most unworthy of them, he seeks to tear himself from 
God's loving hand; and struggling madly to escape these 
imaginary troubles which will never materialize, vainly dis- 
sipating his vital forces, he creates for himself anguish and 

423 



Brazil. 

despair, totally unfits himself for life's real duties and privi- 
leges and shortens his days. 

We now began to entertain anxious thoughts as to how 
we should make land at the second Kogi au Paro village, 
which was a little below our point of embarkation, where we 
were to complete our arrangements for descending the river. 
We seemed to be afloat on a perpetual motion which we were 
powerless to stop. The edge of the river was lined with dan- 
gerous obstructions and we dared not go too near. How, 
then, were we to run our unwieldy float into the narrow 
opening in front of the village? But the Hand of Providence 
guided us as before, and we succeeded in making land with- 
out damage. At the last moment, two Bororo, plunging into 
the water, seized our raft, and pulling with great force, 
enabled us to get it to shore. 

When we had finally made fast to the root of a tree by 
means of a bark line, Senhor Guveia, who had become thor- 
oughly frightened, sprang ashore, declaring that nothing 
would induce him to navigate further on such a craft. 

Having fried for the seventh time our pot of boiled beef 
and eaten the last of it with some green corn-cakes, which, 
after baking in the ashes, had been fried, we further strength- 
ened our raft with bark rope, made another paddle and other 
arrangements, then continued our novel voyage down the 
pretty little river. In place of Senhor Guveia, who had decided 
to return through the forest, we took with us two Bororo 
who had accompanied us from the Ta Dare Mano Paro vil- 
lage. They were delighted with the prospect of returning 
home so easily, and by means of such a strange conveyance. 
The entire Kogi au Paro village came down to the river to 
gaze at our strange craft and to see us " sail," for this was 
a most unusual event in their lives ; besides, they were more 
friendly toward us, and not so fearful and exclusive as the 
upper village. 

Getting our craft once more in motion, we did not meet 
with any dangers until we were more than half-way home. 
We were therefore finding our trip very enjoyable. The 

424 



Brazil 

sun was a little clouded and the day charming, and a primi- 
tive forest, clothed in its beautiful robes of perennial green, 
lined both sides of our watery path. As we were borne along 
by the current, we came upon a Bororo fishing party. These 
bronze, entirely nude savages, standing upon the rocks at the 
water's edge, in the shadow of the great trees, the beautiful 
and luxuriant foliage of which formed a background, looked 
exceedingly picturesque and romantic. They eyed us with 
deep interest as we moved silently past them, having never 
before seen such an object on the river. 

But as we proceeded, our Bororo companions caused us 
feelings of anxiety by continually pointing down the river 
and muttering, canoa by — canoe die, the raft will be wrecked — 
calling the raft by the Brazilian word for canoe, not having 
a word of their own. 

At length, as we were swept rapidly around a bend, we saw 
a little island in the middle of the stream and the water dashing 
over the rocks that extended out from its head, while in the 
center of the only channel through which we might now pass, 
were other large rocks which churned the on-rushing waters 
into a foam. This left us but a very narrow gateway be- 
tween the jaws of destruction. Could we strike this opening? 
We did not know just where the current was carrying us, 
but it appeared to be sweeping us straight onto the rocks, and 
we knew that if our raft should strike them, it would certainly 
die. We were in great alarm, and paddled and poled with all 
our strength, though without any apparent results. But the 
Unseen Hand had not forsaken us, and we slipped through the 
jaws of destruction in perfect security. Once more we saw that 
in our "mad endeavors to escape the danger, we had done 
everything in our power to get into it. 

All had gone well again for some time, though the Bororo 
still continued to point down the river and mutter ominously, 
canoa by, when, as we were borne quickly around another 
turn in the river, our hearts almost stood still at the sight of 
a chain of rapids that stretched entirely across the river, 
more than half the area of which was littered with boulders, 



425 



Brazil. 

over which the waters seathed and roared; and our float 
seemed to be making for the very worst place, despite all 
our efforts to work it over out of the zone of greatest danger. 
The outlook was dismal to the last degree, so we prepared our- 
selves to be wrecked. But once again it was evident that 
the Unseen Hand was guiding us, for we passed the rapids 
in perfect safety and without touching a rock. 

Our Bororo companions now ceased to point down the 
river and to say canoa by, for we were nearing home. But 
how should we contrive to make a landing at our headquarters, 
was a question that gave us no little anxiety. There was 
only a narrow gateway through the snags that cumbered the 
edge of the river, into which we must slip quickly, though 
we needed a broad clear space into which to slowly work our 
unwieldy float. Senhor Antonio tried to get in at a port which 
was a long distance above our hut, but failed, though he 
nearly cast us upon the rocks, and we were in great danger 
for a few minutes. But God cared for us to the last; and 
getting as near the shore as we dared, we slipped in at the 
landing-place without striking even a snag. If we had missed 
this port, we would have been compelled to go a long way 
down the river before finding another. 

We were glad to be again in our own hut where we were 
not troubled by insects, and could obtain an abundance of 
beef and milk — about our only food. 



426 



Chapter XXXVII. 



* 



FAREWELL TO THE BORORO.— CANOEING ON THE 

POGtJBU AND SAO LAURENC^O.— " CIVILIZING " 

SAVAGES.— ACROSS PLATEAU AND SWAMP. 

— CUYABA. 

As I was preparing to take my departure from the Ta Dare 
Mano Paro, one of the chief men came to one of our men 
and inquired, " How many moons will there be before the 
Captain returns to us? Five?" and he raised one hand dis- 
playing the fingers and thumb. Receiving a negative reply, 
he raised both hands, asking, by this act, " Will there be ten? " 
Again receiving a shake of the head in reply, he raised both 
hands, drooped them toward the feet for an instant, and 
again elevated them, thus asking, " Will there be twenty 
moons?" He seemed disappointed when informed that the 
Captain's home was far away beyond the pobu camahina — great 
water — and he would not be able to visit them again for a long 
period. 

For the unnumbered "children of the wilderness" in all 
South America, there is, to-day, less than half a dozen Gospel 
mission centers. Many of these tribes live in regions that 
are fairly accessible and salubrious, and would welcome those 
who would come to them dominated by the Spirit of Christ. 
An Industrial Mission would doubtless be the best for them 
as they need to be taught some of the arts of civilization 
with the Gospel. A few hundred dollars, only, would be nec- 
essary to start such a work, after which, if well managed, 

427 



Brazil 

it could be carried on at a surprisingly small annual outlay 
of money. 

For such a work, one or two hundred square miles of 
splendid timber, pasture, and arable lands of great fertility, 
could be obtained for a mere trifle. Here, thousands of cattle 
could be raised at an insignificant cost, and an almost un- 
limited variety of fruits and vegetables could be grown. Many 
trees would continue to produce ten or one hundred years, 
once given a good start. Waterfalls also exist that would 
furnish power, if needed. 

What a beautiful life-work it would be for many young 
men and women to go and live among these people, acquire 
their language from their lips, reduce it to writing, translate 
the Bible, teach the people and lead them to Christ! A vast, 
unsubdued world offering magnificent opportunities and un- 
dreamed possibilities, calls unceasingly to the Christian 
world. Shall this call go unheeded? May the Son of Right- 
eousness arise and dispel forever the age-long night that en- 
velops the poor, needy children of the wilderness ! 

At last, the moment came to bid a final adieu to our 
brethren of the wilds, with whom we had passed so many 
pleasant, profitable, and exceedingly interesting days. The 
entire village came down to the river to see us off, while a 
few of the men helped us to transfer our baggage to the two 
small dugout canoes in which we were to descend the river 
Pogubu about seventy miles. 

It was delightful canoeing on this pretty, but little known, 
river, on both sides of which stretched away vast, unexplored, 
arboreal wildernesses. The dense tropical vegetation, adorned 
in its magnificant vestments of perennial verdure, extended 
down into the water, and combined with the river to produce 
a beautiful and charming picture. The beauty of the scene 
was greatly enhanced by mountains and hills and great, 
castle-like rocks, crowned with numerous towers and mina- 
rets that rose up in the background. The day, too, was 
ideal, being slightly cloudy, so that we were shaded from the 
strength of the sun. But our pleasure was somewhat marred 

428 



Brazil. 

by a feeling of insecurity; for one of the canoes, not having 
been properly made, threatened every moment to roll over. 
Consequently, we had to balance ourselves with much care, 
squarely in the middle. 

We encountered several lontras during the day. They are 
exceedingly inquisitive creatures, for they swam up within a 
few yards of our canoes, seeking, apparently, to examine them 
and their occupants. 

We arrived, at dusk, at a spot where dwelt a family of 
Paraguayans in rude huts. Here we passed the night, but 
sleep was impossible because of the myriads of mosquitoes. 
The next morning, we tramped and waded about one mile 
through a swamp to the hut of a cattle grower who had 
squatted on what was virtually an island in the midst of the 
swamp. We were received cordially by the ranchman who 
gave us at once hot, sweetened cow's milk ; and two hours 
later, a breakfast of sun-dried beef, stewed, boiled rice and 
beans — both saturated with pork grease — and manioc meal. 
Our breakfast table was a dry ox-hide placed on the ground 
in the hut, and our chairs were our hammocks. 

At noon, we mounted our horses, which had been brought 
to us through the forest, and rode to a near-by village of the 
Bororo. Here, we found conditions similar to those existing 
in other Bororo villages, with the exception that this horde, 
dwelling somewhat in touch with the more advanced races, 
has acquired a few touches of " civilization," and lives in a 
slightly better state than the rest of their brethren. Their 
huts are larger and better constructed, they sleep on raised 
platforms of small poles instead of on the ground, have a few 
steel implements and some firearms, possess domestic fowls, 
and cultivate more ground. Nearly all the men of the village 
were absent on a tapir hunt at the time of our visit. 

The following morning, we resumed our journey down the 
river Pogubu. The river was now at high-water mark, and 
we moved along on the crest of a tremendous yellow flood. 
At noon, we disembarked at a pleasant spot under huge 
trees to prepare and eat our simple breakfast. Having no 

429 



Brazil 

sugar for our coffee, we had secured at the cattle ranch, a 
large stalk of sugar-cane which one of our pr.rty pommeled 
sufficiently to soften, wrung out the juice, and used this in- 
stead of water to make the coffee. The resulting beverage 
was not exactly first-class, yet it was perhaps better than 
coffee without any sugar. 

Later in the day, we passed the confluence of the Pogubu 
and the river Sao Laurengo, and before evening, reached a 
decadent settlement, known as the Colonia de Santa Thereza, 
where we were kindly entertained by the director. 

About the year 1887, the government assembled here a 
large number of the Bororo and made an attempt to " civi- 
lize " them. This work was conducted by the military for 
some years, after which the priests took charge of it. But, 
in each case, the enterprise came to naught, for the schools 
of vice, ignorance and superstition wrought so zealously and 
persistently that they completely overshadowed the school 
of progress. The Bororo were employed in the culture of 
sugar-cane and in the manufacture of the powerful rum, and 
were given daily an allowance of this terrible demoralizer. 
Moreover, they had before them constantly the example of an 
extremely ignorant, debauched and drunken soldiery, more 
barbarous than the savages themselves. Could anything be 
more insane and suicidal than to engage savages in the manu- 
facture of rum, and to supply them with it! Could the most 
diabolical cunning invent anything better calculated to utterly 
defeat all civilizing and uplifting influences? 

An attempt was made, it is true, to teach a few of the arts 
of civilization, but the primitive man, like other men, must 
experience an inner change, a change of mind and heart, be- 
fore there can be much change in his social condition. Large 
sums of money were expended annually in this remarkable 
attempt to " civilize " savages, but the Bororo acquired far 
more vice and superstition than virtue and useful knowledge, 
and the work was finally abandoned. 

At the time of our visit, the settlement had fallen so into 
decay that the few inhabitants existed in a state of partial fam- 

430 



Brazil 

ine. With our able assistance, the director's larder was swept 
clean at once, and we had to make haste to travel on as it 
was very difficult to obtain any supplies. A few miserable, 
demoralized Bororo families still lived at the settlement. 

We had to await the arrival of our horses which were 
brought overland through the forest. They had a dangerous 
swim of half a mile across the river Pogubu, and had also 
to swim the swift Sao Laurengo at the settlement. A great 
source of danger in swimming horses across these rivers is 
that they may fail to strike the one opening in the dense 
vegetation on the opposite shore where they can leave the 
water. The day before we brought our troop across the Sao 
Laurengo, nine mules, of a herd of forty, were drowned 
while they were crossing the river, following the lead animal, 
which was conducted by a man in a canoe. 

I had to part company here with my dear friend and trav- 
eling companions, Senhor Antonio, as he was going southward, 
while my route was northwest to the city of Cuyaba. The 
parting was a sad one to me, and also to him, for we had 
come to have a very deep regard for each other. My every 
wish seemed law to him. It was a grief, and a great dis- 
appointment to me that we have not met since that day. 
We had hoped to meet in the course of a year or two and 
carry out long-cherished plans. I have since received beauti- 
ful letters from him. God grant that we may have the joy 
of meeting again in the near future. 

Separated from my companion, I was without a cooking 
outfit, had no supplies, nor a beast to carry anything of the 
kind. I therefore arranged to accompany three men who 
were returning to Cuyaba driving some oxen, and who had a 
simple cooking outfit and some food, all of which was carried 
on the back of one of the oxen. 

The oxen and drivers began the journey in advance of my 
little troop, which was composed of three animals, the mule- 
teer and myself, but after riding a few miles, we overtook 
the " kitchen " strewn along the trail, the ox having bolted 
with it. Passing the oxen, we were brought to a sudden halt, 

431 



Brazil 

late in the afternoon, by a rivulet that had suddenly swollen 
to a raging torrent because of the recent rains, and that we 
saw would surely sweep away anything that should attempt 
to cross it. The oxen arriving and attempting to cross the 
stream after the water had lowered a foot while we waited, 
were all swept away and one was drowned. Darkness com- 
ing on, we camped here for the night, dining upon a bit of 
sun-dried beef which had been roasted on a spit. 

The entire day's march was through a region overgrown 
with impenetrable masses of bushes and low trees, and wholly 
uninhabited by anything human. Indeed, after leaving the 
settlement just mentioned, we rode nearly one hundred miles 
before encountering another vestige of human existence. 
This distance was largely across a plateau, or giant's table, 
up to which we climbed the second day of our march. This 
plateau is high and apparently salubrious. It is mainly open 
country with only here and there clumps of woods and lines 
of forest, while the soil seems to be fertile, and excellent for 
grazing purposes. But there may be a scarcity of water dur- 
'ing the rainless season. 

While we were eating breakfast the second day, a rain- 
storm burst upon us, which did not add to the pleasure of the 
meal, and at noon the third day, our passage was barred by 
a stream four feet deep, which compelled us to unload our 
baggage from the mules and carry it over on our shoulders. 

The oxen drivers now sent my troop on in advance, say- 
ing they would overtake us before night. But they failed to 
do so, and we never saw them again. Consequently, we had 
to pass the night at one of the most lonely and desolate ap- 
pearing spots I ever saw in Brazil, without having tasted food 
since breakfast. It was on open ground near the marshy rise 
of some stream ; the sky was leaden and wintery ; black banks 
of cloud and fog hung near to the ground; a chilly blast of 
wind swept over the gloomy, uninhabited waste, and every- 
thing was wet from the rain. 

We pitched our tent and swung up our hammocks ; and 
though we were without either dinner or supper, and had 

432 



Brazil 

traveled much on foot during the day, as my horse was be- 
coming exhausted, I, somehow, did not suffer from hunger, 
and slept well all night. But my poor muleteer, on the con- 
trary, had a melancholy time of it. Like most of his country- 
men, he was a slave to tobacco, smoking incessantly. But he 
had consumed early in the day the last bit of the narcotic 
he possessed, so he was now unable to indulge his madden- 
ing appetite, and to satisfy the craving that was gnawing at 
his vitals. He said, mournfully, " a man can go without food 
or drink, but to be without tobacco is unendurable." So, 
he passed the long, gloomy hours of night without sleep, 
crushing the fierce mosquitoes that came to taste of him. 
listening to the moaning of the wind and brooding over his 
miseries. 

A rather tantalizing incident of the day was that a fine 
deer stood within twenty-five yards of our trail and quietly 
gazed at us as we rode past, quite unaware of any danger, 
having, doubtless, never before seen men and horses. There 
was no danger for neither of us had a gun. A shoulder of 
venison would have been unusually acceptable to us at this 
time. 

Breaking camp at the first glimmer of day, we hastened 
onward to the first human abode at the shelving of the plateau, 
where lived an old Negress, and where we hoped to secure a 
morsel of food of some kind, though we had been told that 
nothing could be obtained here. We reached this desolate 
abode before noon, routed out the Negress, who appeared to 
have been sleeping, and begged some food, for we were 
nearly famished. Wheezing continuously, she muttered that 
she was very poor and had nothing ; but finally hobbled away 
to the " cupboard," Mother Hubbard like, as if to see if it were 
bare, and an hour afterward, reappeared bringing us a granite- 
ware soup-plate rounded up with boiled rice, in which bit^ 
of sun-dried beef had been cooked, and the whole mixed 
with a kind of corn meal. As there was but one iron spoon, 
only one of us could eat at a time. We found the beef scarcely 
more easy to masticate than pieces of leather; but as we felt 

28 433 



Brazil 

ravenous, we doubtless enjoyed this rude breakfast more than 
many a man does a banquet, and ate it with more thanks and 
less grumbling. When I inquired the price of our breakfast, 
our kind hostess, half wheezing, half snoring, murmured, 
" It isn't nothing," and appeared to be the soul of generosity. 
But this was merely a ruse that a few of the dwellers along 
this trail avail themselves of to get a good price for what 
they give to famished travelers, who, touched by their poverty 
and generosity, give them several times the value of the food 
supplied. 

We were now descending gradually from the plateau, and 
encountered human dwellings every eight or ten miles. We 
were compelled to look mainly to these poverty-stricken people 
for our food until we reached the city of Cuyaba, and we 
seemed to clean up everything as we went along. 

At noon, one day, we dismounted at a mud hut in the 
thicket and asked for some breakfast. Having prepared 
something, the housekeeper appeared in the doorway — for we 
had remained outside the house — and handed me a bowl full 
of a kind of thick, manioc meal gruel in which two or three 
eggs were floating. As she did so, she saw me glance toward a 
rude table which was secured to the wall in one corner of the 
room, as if I wished to sit to it and eat my food comfortably, 
but upon which stood a large, gourd-shell bowl containing 
some substance. Apologizing for not having invited me into 
the house before, the woman removed this bowl from her 
parlor table, then invited me to make use of it. This bowl 
contained cattle excrement, which is used as a cement, or 
plaster. 

Only twice did we come upon an oasis in this wilderness 
of destitution. One such was at the foot of the plateau, and 
was a typical Brazilian plantation establishment on a small 
scale. It was a very picturesque and lovely, garden-like spot, 
completely walled in by the declivities and spurs of the 
plateau, which were heavily clothed with verdant forest and 
thicket. A charming brook rippled and played as it mean- 
dered through the grounds in front of the dwelling, while a 

434 



Brazil. 

hot spring gushed out just back of the house. Dame Nature 
has thus prepared hot and cold water baths for the benefit and 
enjoyment of man, which are always ready at every hour, day 
or night. 

Game, such as tapir, wild pigs, deer and other creatures, 
abounded in the neighboring forests and jungles. The resi- 
dent family had a monjolo and made corn flour, and the usual 
native contrivance, propelled also by the brook, for pressing 
out the sugar-cane juice; so that sugar in bricks, and, unfor- 
tunately, rum, was manufactured. We remained a day and a 
night at this delightful spot, marred though it was by a dis- 
tillery, and enjoyed sumptuous repasts compared to what we 
had subsisted upon during the previous three months. 

The next day's march brought us to a beautiful sitio, called 
As Palmeiras — The Plantation of the Palm Tree Grove — that 
had been a large and famous plantation in the days when 
slavery existed, and where over one hundred slaves had been 
constantly employed. There was almost a village of small, 
white, one-story, tile-roofed, floorless buildings, which were 
arranged, horseshoe-like, around a large square, facing in, with 
no openings at the back. These had been the slave houses. 
The ancient glory of the plantation had now passed away. 
We remained here over one day, occupying one of the vacant 
buildings, and " faring sumptuously." Tasty civilized Bra- 
zilian breakfasts and dinners were brought to us regularly on 
a large tray, according to native custom. 

The following day we arrived at a place of which I had 
been hearing ugly tales, and of which I had come to have a 
dread. It was a terrible swamp, or broad, inundated thicket, 
called, Sangnedor — The Bleeder. It is about two miles wide, 
and the water from three to seven feet deep. As we approached 
it, my muleteer urged that we attempt the passage without 
seeking a guide, but I had already had too much experience to 
follow this advice. I now know that had I done so, the valu- 
able collection I had made from the Bororo, and my personal 
effects, would have been ruined, or lost ; and our horses might 
have been drowned, and we also. Turning aside from the 

435 



Brazil 

trail about a mile to where a family lived, we hired a man to 
pilot us through the swamp who had a thorough knowledge of 
the passage. He led us about here and there among the trees 
and bushes where the water was most shallow and the footing 
most firm ; so we traversed the dreaded place without damage 
or inconvenience, except that I got my boots full of water. I 
experienced a feeling of relief when we touched firm, dry 
ground on the western side of the submerged district. 

The sun was setting when we reined up at the place where 
dwelt our late companions, the oxen drivers, and where we had 
planned to pass the night. We had expected to find a well 
developed plantation here, for all the time we were with these 
men they were pronouncing anathemas upon families, who, 
though living by the trail and occupying soil of great fertility, 
were in abject poverty, and had nothing for starving travelers. 

"These damnable people, who have nothing for the way- 
farer," they would rail, "should not dwell by the highway, but 
should hide themselves away in the densest part of the woods." 

But we found conditions as wretched at this place as 
anywhere along the trail. To all my inquiries if they had this 
or that, the only response of the black woman in charge was, 
"We haven't nothing." It was only by pleading that I was 
suffering from a splitting headache because of bad food, or no 
food, blistering sun and boots full of water from the Bleeder, 
and that I had traveled with the owner of the ranch, who said 
he had everything at his place, that I succeeded in getting a 
mere taste of food. 

We rode into the city of Cuyaba, on the western side of 
Brazil, the following afternoon. It is a compact city of twenty 
thousand inhabitants. Strange to say, we encountered not a 
vestige of human existence during a ride of fifteen miles until 
we reached a small village near the city. We appeared to be 
traversing a wild, uninhabited world, bewhiskered with dense 
masses of low, bushy trees. And after passing this village, we 
saw nothing more for three or four miles but the wild, shaggy 
waste, which extended up to the city gates. It was difficult 

436 




A Partial View of the City of Cuyaba. 




The Rio Pogubu in Matto Grosso, bordered by untrodden wildernesses. 
See Chapter xxxvii. 



Brazil 

to believe that we were approaching a city, especially one so 
large and important. The day was remarkably clear and a 
vertical sun flooded the land with oceans of dazzling light ; and 
the white, smoke-free city, of which we got our first glimpse 
from a hilltop a few miles distant, appeared wonderfully beau- 
tiful and fairy-like as it rose up directly out of a wild and 
seemingly boundless world of deep, unbroken green. 

We dismounted at one of the hotels, of which the city has 
two. This terminated the Expedition to Bororoland. Nearly 
four months had passed since I left the capital of Goyaz, dur- 
ing which time I had ridden about nine hundred miles, besides 
some canoeing. And, though the journey was made during 
the season of heavy rains and swollen rivers and streams, and 
much of it was through wildernesses, and our fare was coarse 
and scanty, yet I arrived at Cuyaba in the enjoyment of better 
health than in years. During this long and eventful journey, 
God had cared for us as truly as for the men of old in their wil- 
derness journeyings. 

Cuyaba was founded in 1840, and is the capital of the great 
Matta Grosso — thick jungle — territory, which is nearly thir- 
teen hundred miles in length, and about equal in square miles 
to Germany, France and Spain combined, but has a civilized 
population of only about one hundred thousand. A large por- 
tion of this vast territory is still unexplored and but little 
known. 

From Cuyaba, one may navigate by steam to the sea, nearly 
three thousand miles distant, following the rivers Cuyaba, Sao 
Laurengo, Paraguay, Parana, and the Rio della Plata. A small 
steamer, carrying passengers and mail, comes up to the city 
once each month. 

This was a famous gold and diamond region in the olden 
times. Much ground in and around the city has been dug 
over, and remains to this day terribly pock-marked with holes 
and hillocks and overgrown with jungle. Brazilian history 
states that four hundred pounds of placer gold was once taken 
from a single pocket here. It is still being mined in the neigh- 
borhood. The discovery of rubber to the north has done much 

437 



Brazil. 

to give the city commercial importance. It is also an im- 
portant military city. 

Some time prior to my visit, the city was besieged and cap- 
tured by a large armed force, organized by the political party 
that had been unsuccessful at the polls, and the legal state 
government overturned. Two regiments of federal troops 
were stationed in the city at the time, but the authorities at 
Rio de Janeiro would not permit them to lift a hand in support 
of the state government because it was opposed to them, polit- 
ically, though these troops also suffered from the fire of the 
insurgents. 

Cuyaba, like most South American towns, is a sort of 
medieval city with a few touches of modern civilization, like 
exotic plants. It is astonishing that this large and important 
town does not possess even one institution doing a regular 
banking business. Moreover, when one asks for his mail at 
the post-office, he is handed a package of letters — all there are 
in the office — from which he may select any he wishes. In- 
quiring for my mail once at the post-office in another important 
town in Brazil, the postmaster examined the contents of sev- 
eral large, disorderly looking boxes, next looked over the pack- 
ages on a big, badly littered table, then glanced on the floor 
under the table, saying, finally, that he guessed he had no 
mail for me. 

Horses and mules may always be seen pasturing in the 
public squares of Cuyaba, though they obtain but little grass 
here. Brazil produces no hay; therefore one is compelled 
either to turn his horses loose in the jungle to feed, or to buy 
bundles of green grass for them at a great expense. Thus it 
cost me nearly as much to buy feed for my horse and mule 
while at Cuyaba as for my own entertainment at the hotel. 
Large, sea-coast cities like Rio de Janeiro, import hay in bales 
from Argentina ; while at other cities not on the coast, persons 
having many draft animals, own and cultivate a large field of 
a luxuriant, nutritious grass, called capim, that grows three or 
four feet high, a cart-load of which they cut and haul, green, 
into the city each day to feed their stock. This grass is not 

438 



Brazil 

grown from seed, but by transplanting the roots. Therefore, 
to get a field started, costs an immense amount of labor, but 
it continues to grow up again during the entire year, as fast 
as cut. 

When I turned my horses loose outside the city of Cuyaba 
to graze, days were consumed in finding them, owing to the 
broken condition of the ground and the thick jungle; besides, 
there was danger that they might be stolen, or borrowed with- 
out permission. Consequently, I pastured them in the city 
square and bought green grass and corn for them ; and each 
night shut them in the back yard of the hotel. To get them 
into the back yard, I had to lead them through the hall, dining- 
room and court-yard of the hotel. But this was nothing un- 
usual, for Brazilians do not have an alley leading to their 
back-yards, and cattle and horses are taken in and out through 
the house. It is therefore common to see several head of cattle 
clatter through the dining-room and out of the front door of a 
house. 



439 



PART V. 
THE RIO VERDE EXPEDITION. 

Chapter XXXVIII. 

EXODUS TO THE RUBBER FORESTS.— 
EXTRACTING RUBBER. 

At Cuyaba, an expedition was being fitted out by a rubber 
exporting company to penetrate into the unknown regions of 
the north and explore the Rio Verde and the rubber forests 
believed to exist along its border. Invited to accompany this 
expedition, I accepted, believing that it would afford me an 
opportunity to visit and acquaint myself with savage hordes 
concerning whom little or nothing was known, and to accom- 
plish at a small expense what might otherwise cost me 
thousands of dollars. 

There were eighteen men in the expedition. Five of them 
were of German birth, one of whom was a surveyor and the 
leader of the expedition; one was a Bolivian Indian; another 
was a pure African, and one other was an Italian; while the 
remaining number, except myself, were Brazilians of mixed 
blood. All were armed with long knives and repeating rifles. 
We had thirty mule loads of supplies, consisting of brown 
beans, manioc meal, lard in four-pound tins, rice and dried beef, 
two large sacks of hardtack, coffee, Paraguayan tea, sugar, 
soap, tools, instruments and medicine, and lastly, ten demijohns 
of rum, which contributed much to the undoing of the enter- 
prise. We were compelled to transport all our effects on the 

440 



Brazil 

backs of mules, as the trails did not permit of the passage of 
any vehicle. 

Unprepared to accompany the expedition when it started 
from Cuyaba, I followed a week later, making the first ninety 
miles of the journey with one riding horse and a pack mule, 
and one man to aid me who traveled on foot. Saddling up to 
start, I discovered with dismay that this man knew nothing 
about loading a pack mule, and could not learn ; worse, having 
foolishly allowed one of my pair of pack-mule trunks to go 
forward with the expedition, I now had to balance the bulky 
remaining one with a thin, raw-hide sack, which was very 
difficult. When loaded, the mule reminded one of a bad case 
of mumps on one side only ; and the pack became disarranged 
continually. I got more experience adjusting a pack than ever 
before, and the day was filled with untoward experiences. 

We tried to reach this day a hamlet thirty miles from 
Cuyaba, but darkness overtook us while we were still far dis- 
tant. Essaying, at dusk, to cross an angry little stream that 
barred our passage, I was nearly overwhelmed. Attempting 
the passage again at another point, though the stream was but 
seven feet wide here, it proved to be seven feet deep, and my 
awkward, helpless man slipped in over his head. We therefore 
passed the night here, pitching our tent in the rain between 
two scrub trees, using a pack circingle for a ridge pole ; and 
dining upon bread and rapadura, for we could not kindle a 
fire, owing to the rain. 

All these experiences inspired fear in the heart of my super- 
stitious and feeble-minded assistant, who groaned loudly and 
continuously, as if he were about to die; then at midnight, 
while I was absent from the tent to observe where my beasts 
were wandering to, he stole away and hastened back toward 
Cuyaba as fast as his long legs would carry him. 

My feelings can be better imagined than described when I 
found myself without human companionship in these strange 
and desolate wilds, and realized my situation. How would I 
find my horse and mule in the morning? — they having already 
disappeared. Who would stay by the baggage while I 

441 



Brazil 

searched; and how would I load the mule when found? — for it 
requires two persons to load a pack-mule. These and other 
anxious questions filled my mind, in addition to the feeling of 
extreme loneliness. But I committed myself to God, and slept 
until daybreak. The name of my departed assistant was Good 
Venture, but securing him for a helper had not proved a good 
venture for me. 

At dawn, I had the good fortune to find quickly my horse 
and mule, though they were in a secluded place, and also suc- 
ceeded in loading the mule, it being more gentle than usual ; 
then shortly after resuming my journey and crossing the now 
greatly subsided stream, I fell in with another horseman, who 
helped me to readjust the mule pack and accompanied me to 
the first settlement. Here, I overtook three men who were 
traveling on foot to the rubber forests, transporting their 
effects on the back of an ox, and arranged to accompany them 
during the remaining sixty miles of this stage of my journey. 
They were all experienced men, besides, had a cooking outfit, 
which I did not have, as I was soon to join the Expedition ; con- 
sequently, I traveled much more conveniently than when 
accompanied by Good Venture. 

Our objective point was the village of Rosario, which is a 
great distributing point to the rubber forests lying to the 
north. Our course was due north, parallel to the Rio Cuyaba, 
though some miles distant from it. Notwithstanding my im- 
proved fortunes in travel, we continued to have unpleasant, as 
well as pleasant, experiences. A heavy rain storm freely 
watered our first breakfast as we were eating it ; and at evening 
the same day, as we were fording a stream, my horse slipped 
from the fording ridge into water six or eight feet deep, 
and both horse and rider came near going down stream. But 
grasping overhanging bushes, I called for help, so escaped from 
the water without loss, none the worse for the cold, muddy 
bath ; and as we camped for the night on the opposite bank of 
the stream, I had opportunity to change my clothes and dry 
my saddle bags and their contents. 

The next day, it was my fellow travelers' turn to meet with 

442 



Brazil 

a reverse. While we were preparing and eating breakfast, 
their ox, which had been turned loose to feed, stole suddenly 
away, and, presumably, started back toward home at a good 
speed, dragging eighty feet of rope. We remained in camp 
all the rest of the day and the following night, while a fruit- 
less search was made for the brute. But we did not mind the 
delay, as we were camped at a charming spot, and the day was 
beautiful, and the night even more so, because of the wonder- 
ful moonlight and the strange stillness. In the morning, the 
ox not having been found, most of the baggage it had carried 
was stored in a vacant shed near by, and we resumed our 
journey, arriving late that night on the banks of the river 
Cuyaba, opposite Rosario, where we passed the night in our 
hammocks, swung up between the trees, crossing the river on 
a catamaran to the village in the morning. 

Rosario is very old, and was a very dormant, decadent vil- 
lage until several years ago, when it suddenly awoke to the 
knowledge of the existence of rubber to the northward, and of 
its value, and entered upon a new and enterprising era. 

I found the village all bustle and animation, as it was the 
season when the rubber gatherers were preparing and depart- 
ing for the forest. The streets were mottled with groups of 
these men, who were of every shade of color from tan to black, 
medium height and somewhat lean, eyes rather large and 
brown, hair unkept, features coarse and faces unshaven; 
teeth more or less gone — those remaining, ugly and tobacco- 
stained ; hollow-cheeked ; all dressed in white or checked cotton 
shirts and pantaloons, with heavy leather straps buckled 
around the waist instead of suspenders; nondescript hats of 
leather, felt and straw, weather-beaten, and in all states of 
ruin, pulled down over their heads to protect their eyes from 
the strong light; barefooted, with sandals hung over their 
shoulders, to be worn when traveling stony trails; sword-like 
knives in home-made leather scabbards dangling from their 
belts; and lastly, deer skin pouches suspended from their 
shoulders containing their smoking and guarana-making out- 
fits. Many stood, or sauntered about, or haunted the entrances 

443 



Brazil 

to stores, smoking cigarettes rolled in corn-husks, renewing 
acquaintances and talking vivaciously in mellow voices about 
mules and oxen — their origin, history and doings, and about 
rubber — comparing the advantages and disadvantages of vari- 
ous rubber groves, reporting the luck they had had the pre- 
vious year, and what they were going to do the present season ; 
discussing the qualities of the rum made at different distil- 
leries; swapping stories of incident and adventure; laughing 
and making vulgar, indecent jests and wanton remarks with 
knowing leers and glances, or spinning lewd yarns and un- 
printable stories of the doings of priests. Other parties of 
these men, bearing on their shoulders cheap, single-barreled, 
muzzle-loading shotguns, or an occasional magazine rifle, 
were in movement accompanying long lines of mules or oxen 
laden with provisions, clothing, tools, medicine, and rum in 
demijohns for the rubber forests, which were arriving contin- 
ually and marching out northward, — the air musical with the 
merry jingle of the bells of their pilot animals. Others, again, 
were busy unloading at the warehouses, pack trains of fresh 
goods, among which might have been seen scores of raw-hide 
sacks, each containing ten or twelve gallons of rum, large 
quantities of which are consumed. Lastly, many other men 
were organizing their trains, making each pair of packs of 
equal weight so as to balance when hung to the saddle, roping 
them with raw-hide straps, and adjusting loops at both ends of 
the packages ; meanwhile, allowing their numerous beasts, 
pack-saddled, to pasture in the streets. 

When the rubber fever broke out, it was like the gold fever. 
Men thought they saw unlimited wealth within their grasp. 
Rubber companies were organized, and having secured from 
the government concessions of the rubber forests, eagerly ad- 
vanced large sums of money — frequently several hundred dol- 
lars — to men to secure their services in the actual gathering of 
the famous gum. At that time, the harvester received about 
sixty-three cents per pound for the rubber at the forest, and it 
was confidently expected that an energetic gatherer, with a 
good piece of forest, would take out about thirteen hundred 

444 



Brazil 

pounds each season — May to September, inclusive — and would 
quickly replace in rubber the money advanced him. 

But the harvest of gold fell far below expectations. Pro- 
visions were very cheap at first; but they soon doubled and 
tripled in price because so many men flocked to the rubber 
groves that few were left to engage in agriculture. Besides, 
the price paid the harvester for his rubber, dropped to forty 
or fifty cents per pound. But most important of all, few 
men succeeded in taking out thirteen hundred pounds in a 
season, many not extracting one-half or one-quarter of this 
amount. So they all came to be heavily and permanently in 
debt to the exporters, and virtually their slaves. A member of 
one firm told me that their men owed them thirty or forty 
thousand dollars. 

Brazilians have the very bad custom of advancing a sum 
of money to a man when hiring him ; then, as clothing and 
other supplies, besides a dollar or two from time to time, are 
doled out to him, he comes, finally, to be in debt to his em- 
ployer one or two hundred dollars — according to the account- 
ing of the latter. And any one else wishing to secure the 
services of such a man, must assume this debt. 

To reach a place called Pantanalzinho — Little Ponds — 
where I was to join the expedition, I accompanied one of the 
several parties of rubber gatherers, who, with their trains of 
mules and oxen, serpentined slowly over and around the rugged 
hills, through forests, jungles and swamps, and across rivers 
and brooks toward the rubber groves, the numerous trains 
forming an almost endless procession along the trail. We 
marched only about twenty miles each day, as the beasts were 
heavily laden and the sun was hot, and most of the men trav- 
eled on foot. Breakfast was eaten shortly after sunrise each 
morning, and the day's march begun at once, which terminated 
early in the afternoon ; and dinner was served between four and 
five o'clock, each person loading his plate from the large iron 
kettles, and squatting on some box to eat. As the rainy season 
was about over, it was seldom necessary to raise our tents, and 
we merely swung our hammocks between the trees. As many 

445 



Brazil 

trains were camped each evening at the same place, we 
formed nearly an army at times, our broad encampment being 
illuminated by numerous fires, each of which slowly boiled 
a kettle of beans for the morning meal ; and we were enter- 
tained until late in the evening by weird songs and stories, 
and by the twanging of guitars. 

Between the village of Rosario and the rocky, mountainous 
divide, over which we climbed into the Amazon basin, we 
encountered saline brooks and rivers; and though the water 
was cold and crystalline, it was unfit to drink. During this 
part of our journey, too, we encountered at wide intervals, 
small groups of miserable little mud-walled, grass-roofed huts, 
where a few Brazilian families eked out an existence. 

Pantanalzinho is the last permanent outpost of "civiliza- 
tion" toward the north. It is a basin containing seventy or 
eighty square miles of land in which is located a supply and 
receiving depot of the rubber gatherers and a few mud huts. 
This basin is remarkably well watered, has splendid open pas- 
ture lands besides rich agricultural soil ; and most important 
of all, it is free from the deadly fevers that prevail everywhere 
throughout the vast regions north of it. It was bought by its 
present owner thirty or more years ago for the equivalent of 
seventy-five dollars; and though it remained worthless for 
many years until the value of rubber became known, it is now 
valued at thirty or forty thousand dollars. The owner of this 
property extracted two or three hundred pounds of rubber in 
those early days, conveyed it to Cuyaba on the backs of mules 
and offered it for sale. But at first, no merchant would buy it, 
believing it worthless. Finally, an Italian merchant took it, 
but at a price that did not pay one-fifth the cost of extracting 
it and carrying it to market. Shipping the strange gum to 
Europe, its real value became known, and Pantanalzinho at 
once became very important as the great final distributing 
depot to all the rubber forests beyond. 

I found the Rio Verde Expedition encamped here, making 
its final preparations to go forth into the uninhabited and un- 
known regions of the north. 

446 



Brazil 

Pack trains and companies of rubber harvesters continued 
to arrive for a number of days, until a small army had gath- 
ered, spreading their camps abroad, and the usually quiet 
locality teemed with life and stir; then, at last, having com- 
pleted their arrangements, they began to drag their weary 
lengths northward to a distance, in some cases, of two hun- 
dred miles. 

The next objective point of our Expedition was one hun- 
dred and fifty miles north, to an outpost of the rubber har- 
vesters. All our provisions, except such as we would need 
during this stage of our journey, were despatched in advance of 
our party ; but owing to bad management, we soon found our- 
selves with nothing to subsist upon but boiled rice, and were 
powerless to replenish our cuisine. And, though we had our 
beef with us, it was not available, as it was transporting itself, 
to be slaughtered only when the Rio Verde should be reached. 
But one day, a beef that was being driven in a rubber train, 
fell dead in the trail, overcome by the heat. Nevertheless, it 
was promptly bled and dressed, and thereafter, we had beef. 
What made matters worse for us was that we really had no 
cook, and the cooking was done by one and another of our 
men, each of whom tried to see how bad a chef he coulti be in 
order to escape this work. 

We encountered the first rubber factory the third day from 
Pantanalzinho, after a morning ride of twelve miles. It was a 
rude little shanty where one rubber gatherer only stayed. Dis- 
mounting here for a few minutes, we were treated to a drink, 
much prized in the Cuyaba world, called guarand, a native 
Brazilian cocoa, made from the seeds of the Paullinia sorbilis. 
The seeds are first pulverized, then mixed with water and 
made into a stiff paste; and finally, rolled into cylinders, like 
bologna sausages, and dried by smoking. It thus becomes as 
hard as wood. 

To prepare it to drink, the Cuyabanos first carefully spread 
a bit of old newspaper on a bench or stool, lay upon this a 
broad file, then, holding the stick of guarand upright and pass- 
ing it back and forth over the file, grind off a teaspoonful of 

447 



Brazil 

powder, which is put into a glass with a little sugar, and the 
glass filled with cold water. It has an astringent, bitterish 
taste and is very stimulating — much more so than tea or coffee 
— as it contains four or five per cent, of coffeine or theine. 
Many of these people have formed the habit of taking a glass 
of this drink every morning immediately after rising, so the 
zip, zip, as they file off a little of the powder, is a familiar 
morning sound. 

Many muleteers keep in the school-bag-like pouch which 
they always carry hung from their shoulders, a complete 
guarand outfit, along with their smoking gear, including a 
stick of guarand, a bit of paper and the file, a wine glass and a 
spoon, and a half pound tin of sugar. Such a man takes a 
glass of this beverage before starting out in the morning to 
round up his mules. If he should fail to find them all before 
noon, he stops at a brook and prepares another glass of 
guarand, going until night, perhaps, without a taste of food. 
Between drinks, he smokes cigarettes incessantly. He carries 
in his pouch, besides the guarand outfit, six inches or a foot of 
tobacco, a bunch of corn-husks, a horn containing raw cotton, 
and a flint and steel with which to ignite the cotton. These 
men are never seen without these outfits by them. The Bra- 
zilians are said to be the most nervous people in the world. 
How can they be other than nervous when the men, univer- 
sally, and a large proportion of the women, smoke powerful 
tobacco constantly and drink great quantities of fiery rum and 
strong coffee, to which many add guarand. 

Before drinking the glass of guarand, with which I was 
kindly served, I was feeling weak and exhausted; but it im- 
proved my condition as if by magic, and I found the taste very 
pleasant. Guarand was first used by savages along the Amazon, 
who rolled it into cylinders on their bare legs above the knees. 

Passing beyond Pantanalzinho, we saw no more mountains, 
or hills, and entered a vast and fairly level region that 
stretches away, perhaps a thousand miles, unbroken by any 
prominent ridges. The country merely undulates in very 
gradual, and at times, barely perceptible rises and descents of 

448 




Camping in the Matto Grosso Wilds. 



•See Chapter xxxviii. 



Brazil. 

many miles in extant, down the gentle slopes of which numer- 
ous water courses stretch away here and there into the un- 
known. These water-ways are always bordered by broad 
strips of moist or swampy ground, wherein grow forests of 
palm, syringa — rubber trees — and numerous other tropical 
plants in rich profusion. Outside these lines of compact forest, 
the land, for the most part, is clothed in varying degrees of 
density or sparseness, with low, upland, broad-leafed trees and 
very coarse grass. As one approaches the apex of each ridge, 
this vegetation becomes more sparse and stunted and the coun- 
try open, while, on the contrary, it becomes more luxuriant 
and tangled as one descends. But the point where this upland 
vegetation ceases and the walls of heavy forest begin, is 
sharply defined, for the character and exuberance of the vege- 
tation undergoes a great change here. We saw and traversed 
but two zones of heavy forest growing on firm ground, one of 
which was twenty-five miles broad. 

We encountered many varieties of grass, most of which the 
mules, and especially the horses, disliked, and at times refused 
to eat. A great advantage that the mule has over the horse is 
that it is more hardy and can subsist upon coarser and less 
nutritious grass. But even the mule must have corn, as well 
as grass. This is why oxen are used so largely as beasts of 
burden in this region — they can live upon grass only. The 
rubber companies are forced to pay two or three dollars per 
bushel for corn, and must then transport it hundreds of miles 
on the backs of their mules. Doubtless a larger fortune could 
be accumulated in this region by raising corn than by extract- 
ing rubber. 

At length, we arrived at the most northerly outpost of the 
rubber harvesters, where we remained in camp a few days 
while some preliminary explorations were made. 

While here, I had an opportunity to observe the method of 
extracting rubber in this part of Brazil. These valuable gum 
producing trees are not met with until one crosses the divide 
into the Amazon Basin; and even here, there are no forests 
composed exclusively of these trees. Instead, they are scat- 

29 449 



Brazil 

tered about more or less sparsely among numerous other kinds 
of trees. This is a peculiarity of the vegetation of Brazil, that 
forests, or large groves of a single variety of tree, are seldom 
or never found, while the number of distinct species is very 
great, many of which are invariably intermingled. The syringa 
— rubber tree — grows straight, uniform and limbless, tapering 
gradually, like a mast, and having at the top a little cluster of 
foliage, like the royal palm. The wood is like that of the soft 
maple — white and not hard, though the grain is irregular. 

Since deadly fevers exist in these regions during the rainy 
season — September to April — the rubber harvesters labor dur- 
ing the dry months only, retiring southward before the rains 
begin. If rain should come early in September before they 
have finished their season's work, and the fever should become 
suddenly malignant, they would cease work instantly and flee 
southward — on foot, of course — as if from a plague, and any 
man who should be too ill to walk might be left behind for the 
buzzards. 

Arrived at the groves at the beginning of the season, they 
construct rude shanties convenient to their work — save where 
they have worked before and shanties already exist — then open 
paths through the masses of undergrowth to all the trees that 
are to be tapped. Each man has charge of one hundred fifty 
to four hundred fifty trees, and usually, two or four men live in 
each shanty. Occasionally, however, there are only trees 
enough within reach of a shanty to keep one man busy, who 
must therefore live entirely alone, without another human 
being nearer, perhaps, than four or five miles. It is an ex- 
tremely lonely life, even when two or three men are living to- 
gether. Moreover, these men suffer much from the destructive 
intermittent fevers, even during the dry season ; and when ill, 
they are often helpless, and frequently receive no care 
whatever. 

To secure the sap from the rubber tree, a girdle of the 
spongy, burity-palm wood is fastened around the trunk of the 
tree in an inclined position by means of wooden pegs, and the 
openings between it and the tree are closed with a little clay 

450 



Brazil 

mortar. When all the trees have been prepared in this man- 
ner, the harvester goes from tree to tree, and with a small 
pick perforates the bark in several places just above the girdles 
and the " tears " begin at once to ooze out slowly, trickle down 
the trunk and down the girdle into the tin cup placed to receive 
the liquid. It coagulates within a few hours, and the tree 
ceases to bleed until fresh punctures are made in the bark. As 
this sap exudes, it is white and of a creamy hue, rather thick, 
and very sweet. It has very much the appearance of con- 
densed milk, and if one should taste it, one would feel almost 
certain that it was indeed a kind of condensed milk. The rub- 
ber gatherers call it "milk." It is nearly pure rubber. 

Having punctured the bark of all the trees under his care, 
** the harvester next goes from tree to tree and empties the small 
cups of more or less coagulated rubber into a large bucket, 
carries it to his shanty, pours it into a mould in a log, made as 
large as he intends the block of rubber to be ; then, dissolving 
a quantity of alum in a pot of hot water, he pours it into the 
mould over the rubber and allows it to stand a day or two. 
The rubber is now considered cured, and a heavy pressure is 
put upon it which presses it into a solid block weighing 
twenty-five or fifty pounds. These blocks are called " cheeses " 
by the rubber gatherers, because they are the color and have the 
appearance of milk curd, and smell much like cheese. Various 
other methods of extracting rubber are employed in other 
parts of the world. 

The rubber exporters have a monopoly of all the rubber 
forests thus far explored. At the time of which I write, they 
were paying the actual harvesters about forty cents per pound 
at the woods for all the rubber they took out. That is, they 
credited the poor gatherer this amount on his real or imaginary 
indebtedness to them. But, since these men are compelled to 
get all their supplies from the company whose groves they are 
working in, and. at enormous prices, because the company has 
to transport it hundreds of miles by pack train, they derive 
small results from their exhausting labor. The exporters, on 
the contrary, despite heavy expenses, realize large profits. 

451 



Chapter XXXIX. 

CAMPING BY THE RIO VERDE.— MAKING CANOES.— 
EXPLORING THE RIO VERDE AND PENETRA- 
TING INTO THE UNKNOWN.— STRUGGLING 
WITH RAPIDS AND WITH FEVERS.— 
THE LAND OF THE KAJABY. 

Another march of twenty-five miles, and we gazed upon 
the Rio Verde of the North, a little below its source, from 
which point we were to descend it in dugout canoes and ex- 
plore it to its mouth, if possible. It is a beautiful stream of 
cold, crystalline water, flowing northward in a deep, narrow 
channel, and disappearing in the great unknown wilderness. 

We now despatched our beasts southward to Pantanalzinho, 
where they would find good pasture and could be cared for 
during the months that we expected to be absent on our explor- 
ations. Having to make the canoes with which to navigate 
the river, which would occupy us some weeks, we established 
our camp, pitching two large tents and a small one, and set- 
tled down to a daily routine. We camped on open ground, 
within a few rods of the river, but there were clumps of bushes 
near our tents, which we leveled in order that they might not 
screen a savage foe while seeking to creep up to us. Our next 
care was to slaughter the four bullocks that we had driven 
hither, cut the meat into layers, salt it, and hang it in the sun 
to dry. 

All of our party were feeling well during the first week ; 
and the novelty and extraordinariness of our situation, swal- 
lowed up, as we were, here in these mysterious solitudes, hun- 
dreds of miles from civilization, gave keen zest to our spirits. 

452 



Brazil 

At evening, especially, reclining in our hammocks or sitting 
around our camp fires, after the labors and activities of the 
day, while solemn, impressive night, amid a deathlike hush, 
stole after the receding light like a mighty, sombre phantom, 
drawing her ghostlike mantle of darkness over the whole 
land, seemed to bury still deeper the age-long secrets of the 
great, unknown wilderness about us. Then, some subtle influ- 
ence would steal over us, vivifying our spirits and filling our 
minds with strange musings. Our proposed advance into the 
unknown was uppermost in the minds of all, regarding which 
all were cheerfully hopeful and filled with eager curiosity. But 
while some talked earnestly of the days to come, discussing 
plans and expressing opinions as to the course we should pur- 
sue to avoid, or to extricate ourselves from the difficult and 
dangerous situations into which we might be plunged ; others, 
gazing vacantly into the fire, considered the future in a medita- 
tive mood, thinking of the many strange and perhaps marvel- 
ous scenes we might witness ; of the struggles we would prob- 
ably have with rapids and other hazardous impediments to our 
progress ; of the rubber forests and numerous other phenomena 
of nature that might be revealed to our wondering gaze; of 
hunting and fishing in hitherto unknown lands and waters, 
and of the many unfamiliar wild creatures we might look upon ; 
of the wasting fevers we would have to battle with daily, and 
how we would fare ; and finally, of our certain encounter with 
hostile savages: What kind of human beings would they be? 
and what success would we have in treating with them? A 
few of our company, however, of a merrier temperament, and 
unaccustomed to serious thought, gave vent to their feelings 
in the singing of sentimental songs and weird, impromptu 
ditties to the accompaniment of a guitar. 

Addressing ourselves at once to the making of canoes, we 
failed to find near our camp any suitable trees larger than 
eighteen or twenty inches in diameter, so the first three 
canoes hewn were small. The first of these was made 
from a rubber tree. But it was a partial failure, as it had not 
been correctly aligned ; besides, the tree proved a little crooked. 

453 



Brazil 

The canoe was so shallow, too, that it would easily ship 
water. The green chips and slabs from this tree burned as 
readily as if they had been saturated with petroleum. The sec- 
ond and third canoes were made of a different kind of wood, one 
of which was very small. As it was necessary to have at least 
one canoe much larger than any of these, we explored the 
neighborhood more widely, ascending the river Verde three 
miles in the canoes already made ; and finding, at last, a forest 
of large trees, selected one, four feet in diameter, for our 
fourth canoe. The first canoes were made where the forest 
was light and the ground firm and dry, but this last one was 
made in the eternal gloom and cold, oppressive damp of a 
heavy forest, where our men were compelled to stand, bare- 
footed, in a few inches of cold water ; hence, all became ill with 
fever. This sickness was much like Asiatic Cholera, and in 
some cases was very severe, causing violent vomiting and 
purging. It is believed by the Cuyabanos that civilized men 
cannot live in this region throughout the year, as these 
fevers become deadly in the wet season, persecuting every one 
without exception. Probably, if civilized men could avoid 
being bitten by insects, they would not be afflicted by these 
fevers. The savages besmear themselves from head to foot 
with a mixture of fish-oil and a certain palm fruit, which, 
doubtless, exempts them in a large measure from the bites of 
insects. Two of the Germans finally became so ill that they 
had to return southward, accompanied by a youth, before we 
began the descent of the river; while our chief of navigation 
had spells of delirium, but remained, nevertheless, with the 
expedition. This reduced our number to fifteen. 

Three of us "stayed by the stuff" while the rest of our 
party were absent making the canoes ; especially the large one, 
when they did not return for several days; three weeks being 
consumed in this work. We were now in the land of the 
Kajaby and Tapanhuma tribes, both of whom were hostile, 
and the latter were said to be cannibals and to have spurned all 
friendly overtures. So we had to be vigilant always and pre- 
pared for the sudden appearance of a savage enemy who might 

454 



Brazil 

visit us at a most unexpected and inconvenient hour. We 
piled bushes high around our tent, and hung our ham- 
mocks so low that they barely cleared the ground in order that 
arrows could not easily be shot into us while we were lying in 
them at night, and our sleep was of " cat naps." We were also 
careful not to have a camp fire burning near where we were 
sleeping. We were especially watchful during the early part 
of the night and near daybreak, as these were the hours, we 
had learned, when an attack was most likely to be made. 

The dry season was now well established, when all nature 
lies more or less dormant. The days remained absolutely 
cloudless for months, the sun illuminating the land with oceans 
of dazzling effulgence. The wind never blew beyond a gentle 
breeze; the nights were marvelously clear and dominated by 
an awful silence which was broken only from time to time by 
wild, mysterious sounds, some near and others distant, that 
issued from the unknown that enveloped us. Every now and 
then during the night, one of us would start up suddenly as 
some strange, uncouth voice fell upon his ears, exclaiming 
anxiously, "What is that noise?" 

"Where?" would be the eager question of another of us. 

" Over there in the woods, to the right. There ! I hear it 
again, off here to the left !" 

But after listening intently a few minutes, we would be- 
come convinced that the sound issued from the throat of some 
brute creature, and not from some human denizen of the wil- 
derness, as we had at first feared. It is known that savages, 
preparing to deliver an attack, communicate with one another 
by imitating the cries and calls of beasts and birds in order 
that their presence may not be suspected; and we, hearing a 
strange voice, first in one direction, then in the opposite 
direction, could easily imagine that it might have proceeded 
from a savage foe. 

There was plenty of game in the vicinty of our camp, such 
as deer, tapir and rheas, and we occasionally varied our diet 
with fresh meat, though we could not hunt much. When the 
rubber harvesters first came into this region, deer existed in 

455 



Brazil. 

great numbers, for the savages apparently never molested 
them, besides they were quite tame. One day we had the 
"drum-stick" of a rhea — the South American ostrich — for 
dinner. It was as large as a small pork ham and resembled 
turkey meat, and would have been quite palatable had it been 
properly cooked. These great birds consume enormous quan- 
tities of worms, grubs and insects. With so many of our com- 
pany absent, camp life was sometimes very quiet with the few 
of us who remained ; but the monotony was at times broken by 
surprising incidents, so that we lived in a state of expectancy. 
One day, several lontras passed our camp, descending the 
river; and when we ran down to the water's edge and yelled 
at them, they wheeled suddenly and swam toward us, scream- 
ing loudly in reply. They were curious to know what we were. 
But the noise brought to the bank our dog, barking, and 
they vanished instantly. 

One of the Germans composing the party of three who 
guarded the camp, professed to have worked in a bakery in 
London. England. Therefore, when he at length became our 
chef, we thought we would fare much better than formerly. 
But we were doomed to disappointment, for he proved to be 
more slovenly and filthy than any other one of our men. He 
surprised me one morning with the inquiry, "Do you like suet 
pudding " I certainly did, but who would dream of eating a 
suet pudding in this awful wilderness ! 

"Well," said he, "I am going to make a suet pudding to- 
day." 

My interest and curiosity was aroused instantly. I won- 
dered how it would be possible, by the exercise of the most 
skilful jugglery, for even a London baker to produce a suet 
pudding with the few materials we had. But, I thought, he 
must surely know that he can do it ; so I awaited developments 
with a keen appetite, though not without some misgivings. He 
began his prestidigitations at once. First, he cut a lump of 
suet from some that had been hanging over a pole exposed to 
the weather for three weeks ; then cut this decomposing matter 
into pieces the size of a hazel nut. Next, taking a handful of 

456 



Brazil 

wheat flour from a few pounds we had, he put it into a tin 
wash basin and mixed the suet with it into a stiff batter. This 
done, he hunted up a cast-off shirt, tore from it two square feet 
of cloth, tied up the batter in it, and put it into a pot of boiling 
water over the camp fire. When nearly boiled, he informed 
us that, not having the necessary ingredients, he could not 
make a sauce for the pudding, but instead, would make a pot 
of coffee for us to drink while eating it. Finally, he announced 
that all was ready, and set this barbarian's pill and the coffee 
before us. Though by this time my hopes had nearly died out, 
I, nevertheless, ventured to taste the supposed pudding, having 
done which, I willingly left my portion to the London baker 
who made it. 

The canoes at length completed, we freighted them with 
our effects, one forenoon, broke camp, and began our novel 
voyage down the river into the mysterious unknown. The 
large canoe, manned by six persons, carried the bulk of our 
goods ; the rubber tree canoe, in charge of three men, conveyed, 
principally, the tins of lard; the third canoe, also paddled by 
three men, carried the cooking outfit and some provisions, and 
the box of laundry soap ; while the fourth and smallest canoe 
of all, carried nothing but three men, one of whom was the 
leader of the expedition, and their personal baggage. As this 
canoe could be paddled more rapidly than any of the others, 
it went in advance to scout, and to guide the other canoes, 
warning them in case of danger by blasts from a battered 
cornet which one of the men carried. 

Unfortunately, only a few of our men were experienced, the 
rest having no knowledge of canoeing. Moreover, we were 
insufficiently provided with paddles, added to which, there 
were always several men on the sick list. Consequently, the 
large canoe, being very cumbersome, could be paddled only 
very slowly, and not with sufficient force to navigate with 
safety, trusting largely to the current to make progress. This 
kind of navigation was satisfactory where there were no rapids 
or other dangerous obstacles, but extremely perilous in the 
emergencies in which we almost momentarily found ourselves. 

457 



Brazil. 

We encountered no dangerous places in the river, and all 
went well until late the second afternoon; then, as the pilot 
canoe was swept quickly around a sharp bend in the swift, 
narrow river, it was caught in a chain of rapids and swallowed 
up so suddenly that there was no time to blow the warning 
blast agreed upon; and in an instant the three men were 
struggling in the water. All succeeded in reaching the shore, 
however, while the canoe was thrown on the rocks further 
down the river, and also the sacks containing the hammocks 
and clothing; but the cornet was never seen again. The first 
warning of danger received by the rest of us was the loud 
shouting of the three men in the water. Instantly, the whole 
flotilla was thrown into intense excitement, and wild yells of 
"Paddle there!" "Paddle with force!" "Use the pole!" "Throw 
out the line!" "Get alongside and grab the bushes!" were 
heard on all sides. It was only with the greatest difficulty, and 
by a supreme effort, that we succeeded in getting the large 
canoe near enough to the margin of the river to "grab the 
bushes," and thus to save ourselves from being totally wrecked 
in the rapids, into which we were being sucked almost irresist- 
ibly. It looked for a few minutes as if we could not possibly 
escape. I was aflame with fever at the supreme moment; but 
the violent agitation into which we were so suddenly precipi- 
tated, acted upon me like a powerful sudorific, and bursting 
instantly into a profuse sweat I was relieved of fever for the 
day. The savage belief in the possibility of frightening away 
fevers is not without some foundation. 

Experiences such as these were oft repeated during the 
whole time that we navigated this river. One moment, we 
floated along on the bosom of beautiful, tranquil waters of 
emerald hue that shimmered and scintilated in the brilliant 
sunlight, seemingly remote from all danger, where we might 
abandon ourselves to the enjoyment of the many strange and 
charming scenes that were presented each moment to our ad- 
miring gaze, and view with a peculiar satisfaction countless 
objects upon which the eyes of civilized men had never before 

458 



Brazil 

rested; then the next moment, launched into the wildest ex- 
citement and commotion, and into mortal danger. 

We now encountered from one to three chains of rapids 
each day, and were struggling almost continuously with these 
barriers to our passage. We nearly always came upon these 
dangers without warning, as the river was narrow and tortu- 
ous, — though now and then a low moan, or bellowing .sound, 
fell upon our listening ears, issuing from the mysterious 
world in advance of us — and we escaped destruction many 
times by the smallest possible margin, and occasionally, as if 
by a miracle. Consequently, we came to feel restless and 
anxious, even when canoeing in quiet waters where no danger 
was visible, and were constantly listening for any sound of 
rushing waters. 

As our canoes were merely long, straight logs with only 
a few inches of freeboard, they could not live in anything 
but smooth water. Therefore, we had to land above each 
zone of rapids, unload, and carry all our effects around them on 
our shoulders, transferring them, at times, half a mile or more, 
and being often seriously trammeled by the vegetation ; while 
the heavy canoes had usually to be dragged down over the 
rocks, the men jumping and climbing from boulder to boulder 
and toiling waist deep in the water, though we occasionally 
shot the rapids with the empty canoes. Our progress was 
thus extremely slow and laborious, and painful, moreover, be- 
cause all were more or less ill. 

The country through which we were passing was heavily 
wooded only in narrow strips along the many tributaries of 
the Rio Verde; while the dry, hard uplands between these 
watercourses were clothed with the stunted vegetation else- 
where described. But the Rio Verde itself, is not bordered 
by forests anywhere that I saw, with the exception of a few 
isolated groves. Furthermore, this river, like some other 
Brazilian rivers, has no valley, but cuts a deep, narrow chan- 
nel through the uplands at the lowest point in a slight depres- 
sion two hundred miles or more in breadth; and the traveler 
would not imagine that a river existed here until he should 

459 



Brazil 

find himself gazing down into its green, sparkling waters. 
Descending this stream, as if it were the gullet of the mys- 
terious unknown, which was swallowing us up, we observed 
that the channel sank deeper and deeper, while the surround- 
ing country appeared to remain at the same level. In the 
lines of forest that descended to the river bordering the smaller 
watercourses, we saw the rubber trees in varying numbers. 
One day, we encountered a rapid which appeared to offer 
an unobstructed passage to our canoes, and the water was not 
very turbulent. Therefore, we merely lightened the canoes 
somewhat and had our most competent canoe men bring them 
down one at a time. This was done by one man, provided with 
a pike, standing at the point of the bow ready to throw the bow 
one way or the other in order to avoid sunken rocks, while a 
second man, similarly furnished, stood at the extremity of 
the stern to work in concert with the first. All went well 
until the large canoe, containing the most of our supplies, 
was shooting the rapid, when, greatly to our distress, the bow 
ran upon a submerged rock with force and stuck fast. In- 
stantly, the stern was thrown around by the impact of the 
current in spite of the efforts of the pilots, and grounded upon 
another rock, causing the canoe to lie with its broadside ex- 
posed to the rapids, where it immediately filled with water. 
Our bags of rice, beans and manioc meal were put to soak at 
once, and the trunk containing all my photographic material, 
was filled with water. My heart sank within me as I beheld 
this unfortunate event, which was little less than a disaster 
and threatened to terminate the expedition. We had the good 
fortune, however, after struggling for hours in the water, to 
get everything ashore ; and camping here two days, labored 
diligently to dry our effects and save as much as possible. 
We exposed the rice and beans to the sun, spread out on 
our tent cloth, but were unable to save any of the manioc 
meal that got wet, so lost nearly all we had. After nightfall, 
though a full moon soon arose, I improvised a dark-room 
by lopping down the two forked branches of a little scraggy 
tree and making them and the standing trunk form a tripod, 

460 



Brazil. 

then dressing over them a large rain-cloak. It looked like a 
miniature tent. For a red light, I placed an iron pail on its 
side, set up a bit of candle inside of it, and folded three thick- 
nesses of red cloth over the mouth, first wetting the cloth 
to make it more transparent. Using a small box as a table, 
and crouching with my head just inside the little tent, I de- 
veloped and saved several exposed plates that got wet from 
the wreck; while the wet negatives were saved by washing 
them anew and drying them. My stock of unused plates was 
in sealed tins, and therefore undamaged. 

Having saved all we could from the wreck, we reembarked 
everything and continued our explorations. By this time, 
all our party were suffering from the fever. In many cases, 
it develops into what the Brazilians call " corruption," or 
rottenness, caused, apparently, by poisonous matter in the large 
intestine, and the patient, feeling deathly sick, is unable to 
stand erect and retain consciousness. I saw an enema, the 
water being used direct from the river, act upon a patient 
like a touch of Divinity. One moment, he was deathly ill, 
vomiting and purging violently, delirious with fever and mad 
with thirst ; and a minute later, the cholera ceased completely, 
the fever and thirst subsiding, the dreadful nausea vanishing, 
and the patient relaxed into a delightful perspiration and slept 
twelve hours as sweetly as a child. The rubber gatherers 
have a truly barbarous method of treating this disease, intro- 
ducing into the rectum three pellets, the size of marbles, of 
coarse, gritty, laundry soap, saturated with arnica. 

The rum'that had been furnished the expedition to induce 
men to join it, now began to play havoc with our men who, 
having the fever in their systems, drank much of it. One day, 
while transferring our effects some distance around a rapid, 
two of our expeditionists who were slaves to this inebriating 
fluid, got possession of one of the demijohns, and imbibing 
freely, were made permanent invalids and rendered wholly 
unfit for further service while with the expedition. 

We seldom pitched our tents, merely swinging our ham- 
mocks between the small trees to sleep, and enjoying the 

461 



Brazil 

fresh night air. Being now well advanced into the territory 
of the Kajaby, we dared not all sleep at the same time. The 
nights were therefore divided into three watches and two men 
appointed as sentinels for each vigil. After the first few days 
of our descent of the river, we began to meet with evidences 
of the presence of the Kajaby. Once, it was a little roof of 
palm-branches resting on four stakes, which had been rudely 
constructed by one of their wandering fishing parties under 
which to crouch and shelter themselves from the rain. At 
other times, it was the remains of one of their camp-fires — 
the partly burnt sticks lying like the spokes in the hub of a 
wheel — or an opening made in a honey tree with stone axes, 
or a rude float made to transfer food material across the river. 
It is evident from this that the Kajaby neither possess canoes 
nor know how to make them. Lastly, we found a portion 
of the stem of a small sapling from which the savages had 
stripped material to be used as cordage, which we could see 
they had done but a few days before we found the stick. 
We felt sure, therefore, that a party of them was very near 
and was probably observing our movements from day to day, 
and that we were doubtless approaching their villages. Much 
to my regret, I did not have the satisfaction of meeting the 
Kajaby, face to face, as I had hoped, for we early met with 
a disaster that terminated the expedition and compelled me to 
return to civilization at once. 

Some years previous to the time of which I write, a party 
of five Brazilian rubber gatherers started on a flying expedi- 
tion down the Rio Verde in a bark canoe. After following 
the stream a number of days, they encountered a small fishing 
party of the Kajaby, who appeared on the opposite side of 
the river from them. By means of mute signals, the leader 
of the group of explorers communicated to the savages the 
request that one of their number should come apart from the 
others a short distance, while he, on his part, would cross 
the river alone and meet him. Therefore, one of the Kajaby 
came down to the water's edge while his companions remained 
partially hidden, the Brazilian, at the same time, crossing 

462 



Brazil 

in his canoe to meet him. As they approached each other, 
the Brazilian signaled to his primitive brother, " Do not 
arrow me! — Do not kill me!" and the Kajaby signaled, "Do 
not slay me ! " Having met, the savage was, naturally, very 
curious to see the canoe and what was in it, and besides, was 
apprehensive. Observing a repeating rifle lying in the bottom 
of the canoe and knowing that it was a deadly weapon, he 
pointed to it and made signs of fear and dislike, saying in this 
manner, " I am suspicious of that thing ; I do not like the 
looks of it." The Brazilian promptly threw a dry hide over 
it; then pointing to the bow and quiver of arrows that the 
savage carried, signaled, " I do not like that ; it looks threat- 
ening." The savage, therefore, at once handed all his arrows, 
but one, to the Brazilian, then hung this remaining one and 
the bow on his back. The Kajaby now pointed to a very 
long-bladed knife, lying in the canoe, which is of great value 
to the dwellers of the wilderness, patted himself on the breast 
and smiled as blandly as his stoical mien would permit, as 
much as to say, " that is mine ; there is nothing I would prize 
so much. You will give it to me, won't you ? " As this knife 
did not belong to the Brazilian in question, but to one of his 
companions on the opposite side of the river, whose permis- 
sion he wished to secure before giving it away, he did two 
very imprudent things : First, he turned his back partly to 
the savage; and next, he shouted to the owner of the knife 
across the river to ask if he might give the knife away. He 
was thus momentarily off his guard; moreover, he aroused 
suspicion of treachery in the mind of the distrustful savage, 
who, ignorant of the Brazilian tongue, could not compre- 
hend the purport of these shouts and counter shouts. There- 
fore, seizing instantly his bow, he shot his one remaining 
arrow into the shoulder of the Brazilian at close range and 
took to his heels, vanishing immediately with his companions 
from the scene. The comrades of the terribly injured man at 
once swam across the river to his aid ; but the deed was already 
done, and he lay at the threshold of death for many long, 
weary days. All further advance down the river had to be 

463 



Brazil. 

abandoned, and the prostrate man was put into a hammock, 
which in turn was swung closely to a pole, and carried home 
on the shoulders of his companions some two hundred fifty 
miles across an untrodden waste. Strange to say, he finally 
recovered. 

Another method of opening communications with un- 
friendly and distrustful savages, is to advance to some open 
place in full view of a large force of them and deposit there 
a quantity of presents for them, such as bright-colored hand- 
kerchiefs, necklaces, small looking-glasses, knives and fish- 
hooks, then retire some distance. The wild men usually hasten 
forward to appropriate these gifts, well understanding that 
they are intended as a peace offering, and that the intruders 
desire to be on good terms with them. It is often interesting 
and amusing to observe the behavior of these simple children 
of the forest as they examine these presents ; especially the 
mirrors, for, beholding their visages in the magical little ob- 
jects, they hastily turn them face down as if alarmed or dis- 
gusted by what they saw, or imagined there was something 
supernatural about the glasses. 

Very large exploring parties find it extremely difficult or 
impossible to even get sight of the savages, whose territory 
they are invading, who have never had any dealings with civ- 
ilized men, for they judge that, owing to the superior number 
of the intruders, they would not be able to cope with them 
with any chance of success if hostilities should break out. 
On the other hand, a very small exploring party invites attack. 
Every precaution should be taken to avoid a rupture in deal- 
ing with these people, for a bloody fued, once begun, may 
continue indefinitely. 

As we descended the Rio Verde, its channel not only be- 
came deeper and deeper as it dropped down step by step at 
each rapid, but it became more and more sinuous and made 
remarkable turns and loops. Indeed, it appeared to double 
back and forth like the coils of a steam radiator, and these 
windings were full of minor bends and zigzags. One day, 
we made fast to the bank just above an angry rapid in order 

464 



Brazil 

to unload and pass it by land. Disembarking, one of our 
party ascended the bluff to a point about six hundred feet 
from the canoes, when he suddenly found himself peering into 
a deep abyss upon what appeared to be another river flowing 
in the opposite direction from the one just behind him. But 
it was the same river, for it had made a horse-shoe loop and 
dropped down over several ledges of rock. We therefore 
carried our effects across the neck and down into the chasm, 
having to transfer them nearly half a mile to reach a spot 
where we might reembark them ; and our canoemen, remov- 
ing their clothing, shot the rapids with the empty canoes, one 
at a time. 

We found ourselves, one afternoon, at the mouth of a 
small affluent of the Rio Verde, which we supposed was the 
river Quita. As it was a charming spot and we had to set 
up a post, we camped here until the following day. The 
Quita, with its woodland environs, made up a wild, though 
pretty scene. As far back as we could see, it was a mass 
of foam as it came tumbling down the escarpment, now laugh- 
ing and sparkling merrily in the sunlight, now roaring and 
blustering savagly, as it jumped from landing to landing and 
plunged and boiled fiercely over masses of boulders. 

Throwing out our lines, we caught several kinds of excel- 
lent fish, one of which was especially rich and plump and 
resembled salmon. This fish was caught from a school in the 
mouth of the river Quita, all of whom rushed at the bait when 
first thrown to them; but after one was drawn out, none 
would bite again. We could not catch fish at any time with- 
out baiting the hook with a lump of fresh meat; therefore 
we had always to hunt before we could fish. Having but 
little time to hunt, we had game only occasionally, consisting 
principally of venison and the jackoo — a tree hen. 



465 



Chapter XL. 

DISASTER.— TRAMPING ACROSS NO MAN'S LAND.— 

THE TAPANHUMA CANNIBALS. — SHOOTING 

THE RAPIDS OF THE CUYABA RIVER.— 

BACK TO CIVILIZATION. 

At last, late one afternoon, we tied up to the bank a 
short distance above a dangerous rapid, and camped here for 
the night. After viewing the rapids from the land, it was 
decided to approach them a little nearer in the morning by 
passing to the right of an island near our encampment; and 
landing just above the rapids, disembark our baggage so that 
we would not have to carry it further than was absolutely 
necessary. Casting off in the morning, I was surprised to 
see the leader of the expedition, with the pilot canoe, take 
the left channel instead of the right, as had been agreed upon. 
But all the other canoes followed the leader, the large one 
in which I traveled going second. The pilot canoe was swept 
quickly from view ; then, as my canoe shot around a bend 
in the river, borne along by the swift current, we saw that 
the pilots had already made land, and that one of them was 
running along the bank shouting wildly to us to look out 
for the whirlpools. But, as it proved, we were in no danger 
of the whirlpools for we could not propel our canoe out of the 
main current, which was sucking us with great force right 
into the rapids, and the jaws of destruction, for we did not 
have sufficient paddlers. We' succeeded in getting only the 
prow out into the back water, which, owing to the configura- 
tion of the land, seemed to be rushing up stream nearly as 
swiftly as the main current was sweeping down; therefore 

466 



Brazil 

we accomplished nothing but to cause our canoe to swing 
half-way around and approach the rapids broadside. At one 
moment, we were within one hundred feet of the shore, and 
hoping to reach it and escape disaster, one of our men, taking 
the bowline in his teeth, leaped into the back current from 
the bow of the canoe, and struck out fiercely for the bank. 
But the line was too short ; so also was the time. It was now 
painfully evident that we could not escape being totally 
wrecked and suffering a calamity as regarded the success of 
the expedition ; so we prepared ourselves as best we could 
for the worst. The bow of the canoe was thrown around in 
order that we might enter the rapids straight, stern first, not 
broadside, and I threw off my coat and boots, my companions 
being ready for the water as they wore but little clothing. 
There was a line of sunken boulders where the drop occurred, 
but happily for us, we passed through without striking one 
of them. Had we struck one, some of us might have been 
seriously injured. As we went through the lip of the rapid, 
the waves easily rolled over our big dugout ; and filling rapidly, 
it sank beneath our feet, leaving us, together with some frag- 
ments of wreckage, floating on the surface. The water ran 
swiftly below the drop, threatening to sweep us away, but 
we all struck out for the shore with all our strength. I 
seized a floating box to which I might cling in case I should 
have to remain in the water some time, or should be drawn 
into the whirlpools. We all got to shore within a few minutes ; 
but one of our men was in the height of fever at this su- 
preme moment, and though a strong swimmer, would have 
drowned but for the help of a companion. I reached land 
promptly with my box. This box was nearly full of various 
things, including an old kerosene can containing a few pounds 
of precious sugar belonging to the chief canoeman. This 
man was delighted that his sugar was saved, notwithstanding 
that it was now syrup, for he could not live without his 
morning drink of guarana, to prepare which he needed the 
sugar. So he flattered me for my thoughtfulness and bravery 
in bringing the box to land, thinking I did so because I was 

467 



Brazil. 

more intent upon saving something from the wreck than to 
save myself. But the truth is, I thought only of myself. 

A few hundred yards below where we were wrecked, the 
river changes its course abruptly, and another zone of rapids 
occur; and a little below this again, it once more doubles 
and presents still another chain of rapids, while the water 
everywhere rushes and whirls madly. Our wrecked canoe was 
finally thrown up on the rocks at the lower rapids, and every 
vestige of its invaluable cargo had disappeared forever. I 
emerged from the water the happy possessor of life, a pair of 
coarse trousers and a shirt, and one pair of socks — which 
were afterward stolen. All the rest of my personal effects, 
including footwear, my entire photographic outfit with all 
the work done to that moment, and my trunks, were lost, 
excepting my hammock and blanket and one or two other 
items which were in a sack that floated. The leader of the 
expedition lost all his valuable instruments, and all his per- 
sonal effects, excepting the few articles he carried with him 
in the pilot canoe. Our entire food supply was also swept 
away, except a mere mouthful that was with the cooking out- 
fit in another canoe. But we still had plenty of lard in tins, 
inferior though it was, and had lost none of our laundry soap. 
The canoe containing the lard was swamped in the whirlpools 
above the rapids and the tins came floating merrily down 
stream. We fished out as much of it as we needed, but never 
found that it alone made a satisfactory dinner. The canoe- 
man who was aflame with fever when the wreck occurred, 
crept into the bushes on getting ashore, and nearly went into 
paroxysms ; and for an hour or two later in the day, his death 
seemed certain. To me, it seems almost a miracle that I 
reached land, especially where I did, as I am not a strong 
swimmer, and was ill with fever. The water runs so swiftly 
at the point where we landed that when one of the light 
canoes attempted to come in here, it was swept past; so also 
was a dog. We felt that God had cared for us, though the 
wreck was owing to gross carelessness. 

All further advance down the river had now to be aban- 



468 



Brazil 

doned until fresh provisions could be obtained ; and the morn- 
ing following* the disaster, five of our best men were dispatched 
across the wilds to the nearest supply house of the rubber 
gatherers to secure a small quantity of food and bring it to 
us on the backs of oxen. Meanwhile, we pitched our large 
tent and arranged our camp at a spot protected from the 
attack of savages, and lived in a state of semi-famine while 
we anxiously awaited the arrival of supplies. We were un- 
able to catch many fish as we lacked fresh meat for bait, 
and no good hunters were now left among us ; besides, all 
of us were ill. The only food we had was brown beans full of 
worms — and the lard. At length, when we had high hopes 
of being relieved, one man, only, returned bringing nothing 
but a few quarts of manioc meal. 

After a few more days of anxious, painful waiting, we 
learned that no supplies would reach us for several weeks. 
So, securing the canoes in a sheltered spot, we filled them 
with stone and sunk them, hastily made the equipment that 
remained to us as snug as possible, and started on foot across 
the broad stretch of untrodden waste that lay between us 
and the outposts of the rubber harvesters, carrying our few 
personal effects on our backs. We took with us our entire 
food supply, except the lard, consisting of two quarts of wormy 
beans, two quarts of manioc meal, a pound of wheat flour and 
a tin of lard — this to feed seven men. We took not a bar of 
the soap, though we came to be in great need of it at last. 
As not a man of us felt able to carry one of our heavy, iron 
kettles in addition to his personal effects, two empty lard tins 
were taken to be used instead of kettles. The only footwear 
I could obtain was a dilapidated pair of shoes so worn that 
the soles were separated from the uppers back to the heels. 
I tied them up as best I could, but was compelled to walk 
as if I had the string-halt, and they opened up every step I 
took, like an alligator opening its jaws, and hooked into the 
tangled grass and bushes. 

Just after halting for the night, at the end of our first 
day's tramp, which was Saturday, we had the good for- 

469 



Brazil 

tune to secure a fine deer; so we were well supplied with 
venison, not only for supper, but for our " Sunday dinner " 
as well. We roasted the whole carcass by empaling it on 
stakes which we planted in the ground inclined over the 
fire ; and when it was done, we squatted around the stakes, 
and cutting off pieces and moping them in a plate of brine 
that stood upon the ground, ate them. In the meantime, 
one of our intelligent men had put some of the beans to 
boil in the two empty lard tins, beside the fire instead of 
over it, with the result that the tins melted down to the 
water's edge and the beans were cooked only on one side. 

Sunday morning, we again dragged ourselves painfully 
onward after a breakfast of half-cooked beans and roast veni- 
son, each man carrying a leg, or a side, or a chunk of meat of 
some kind. Being greatly weakened because of the fever, 
from which we suffered even as we marched, some of us found 
it a continual torture to break our way all day long through 
the tangle of coarse grass and bushes and carry even the 
lightest weight. We had frequently to tramp many miles in 
the consuming heat of the sun without encountering a drop 
of water, though at mid-day, when the fever was at its height, 
we were nearly mad for a cooling draught, and could think 
of nothing, scarcely, but to open our mouths and let a river 
run down our throats. 

We camped Sunday night among the bushes and tall grass 
near a watercourse, swinging our hammocks between scrub 
trees, and dining upon chunks of roast venison which had 
now begun to decompose. As we were arranging our camp, 
a tapir came crashing through the thicket toward us; but 
it scented danger and changed its course before we had an 
opportunity, in the twilight, to see and fire at it. While mov- 
ing along this day across some high, open country, our dog 
found an armadillo, which began instantly to dig into the 
ground to escape. It dug so rapidly that, though the ground 
was hard, it appeared to sink from sight as if working in 
thin mud, the earth boiling up over it. Moreover, it seemed 
rooted to the ground, and we secured it at the last moment 

470 



Brazil. 

only by driving a knife into its back after some inches of 
earth already covered it. We were anxious to capture it as 
it would add a morsel to our now almost totally exhausted 
commissary department. One of our men partially dressed 
it, removing none of the skin but the armor that covered its 
back, and the next day we impaled it on a stake by the 
fire and roasted it. Besides lean, tough and dirty, it was 
badly charred in roasting. But, crouching around it, like fam- 
ished dogs, we cut off pieces and ate them, glad to get even 
this kind of food. It was the most unsavory breakfast I ever 
ate. These little animals subsist wholly upon ants. 

Wishing to make some lard soup this day, we wondered 
at first how we should do it, for we had lost our empty lard 
tins. But we finally overcame the difficulty by emptying 
the sealed tin of lard we were carrying into our calabash-shell 
water jug. Leaving a third of the lard in the tin, we stirred 
into it the half cupful of wheat flour we had left and added 
a pinch of salt, then filling the tin with water and heating the 
whole, our soup was ready. Doubtless, in our desperate con- 
dition, we relished it more, and were more thankful for it, 
than many a pampered epicure is for a Delmonico soup. 

We sighted a family of rheas at noon, Monday, but they saw 
us as well, and made off on their stilt-like legs before we could 
get near enough to shoot one. We were disappointed to see 
our dinners and suppers for two days eluding our grasp. 

We wandered and circled about considerably while travers- 
ing districts where the vegetation was more dense. The first 
party of five men despatched to the outposts of the rubber 
gatherers, included all our men who were experienced in cal- 
culating exactly directions across shaggy, trackless wastes ; 
besides, they took the only compass we had. We were able 
to follow their trail during the first two days, but finally 
lost it. One and another of our party, declaring that he knew 
the direction we should take, tried to lead us, but usually 
with poor success. Thus we exhausted ourselves with use- 
less perambulations. We guided ourselves in a general way 
by the direction of the streams, and by the sun, 

471 



Brazil 

At length, all our food was consumed but a pint of beans ; 
so, at noon this day, we penetrated a short distance into a 
line of forest to where there was a stream of water, in order 
to slake our thirst and cook and eat the beans. But my fever 
growing worse in the extreme damp and chill of the forest, I 
soon withdrew to the open jungle, requesting that my por- 
tion of the dinner be brought to me when ready. After a 
very long wait, and a losing fight with the stingless bees 
that swarmed upon me and dragged their stupid bodies over 
my flesh, my companions emerged from the woods bringing 
me a cup of what they called bean soup. But I wondered 
why it was so thin, for I had never seen such watery soup, 
not even in an American restaurant. I learned afterward that 
when the beans were nearly done boiling, my companions had 
poured off the liquid and drunk it. Then refilling the tin 
with cold water, they boiled the beans a while longer and 
again drained off the liquid and drank it, and a third time 
filled the tin with water to finish boiling the beans. It was 
this third soup, with a few beans, that was brought to me. 

After this meagre repast, which was breakfast, dinner and 
supper, combined, we held a " council of war " as we now had 
no food whatever, and the situation was becoming desperate. 
We did not know just where we were, nor how long it would 
take us to reach a rubber outpost. In order, therefore, to 
travel as rapidly as possible, we decided to tie our luggage 
into bundles and leave it hanging in a tree, retaining only 
a few pounds of the most necessary articles. I abandoned 
my hammock, though I was in sore need of it; but, though it 
weighed less than ten pounds, it seemed to weigh a hundred, 
and I could not possibly carry it further. 

Continuing our painful retreat, we had not gone far when 
we saw one of our number, who was a hundred yards in ad- 
vance of the rest of us, stop suddenly, and look away to the 
right and then to the left, and finally begin to cheer and 
swing his hat. He had struck a well-beaten path of the rubber 
harvesters, along which they drive an ox or a mule in going 
back and forth between their remote shanty and the supply 

472 




s 



Brazil. 

house. This fortunate event greatly encouraged us and re- 
vived our drooping energies. We now knew where we were ; 
and to follow a beaten path was far more easy than to tear 
our way through a trackless jungle. But the supply house 
that we must reach was some twenty miles distant and though 
the hour was now long past meridian, we must strain every 
nerve to overcome this great distance this day, or we would 
have to go another day without food, and sleep on the 
ground like beasts. But we had already been tramping about 
since morning, and I, in addition to weakness from fever, was 
wretchedly shod; furthermore, unlike the other members of 
our party, had never been accustomed to walk far and carry 
a pack. Therefore, it seemed impossible to walk twenty miles 
further this day. Nevertheless, we determined to try it; and 
pushing forward with lightened hearts, succeeded in accom- 
plishing our task. Every two miles, we would lie flat a few 
minutes, for one can rest more rapidly in this position than in 
any other. We continued this tramping and relaxing until 
ten o'clock at night, when we had the happiness to reach the 
most outlying supply house of the rubber gatherers, where we 
had stayed when enroute to the Rio Verde. We were favored 
with one of those enchantingly beautiful nights that even a 
poet could not adequately describe. The stillness was pro- 
found, even oppressive, and the atmosphere appeared to be 
at absolute rest, for nature was enjoying her annual repose; 
while the full moon bathed the earth with that resplendent and 
most charming light that is so peculiarly soft and brilliant in 
the tropics, and the wonderful and mysterious Southern Cross 
looked down upon us out of infinite depths, filling one with 
reverential awe. We could easily imagine that we were wan- 
derers in some strange, fairy world unknown to men. Though 
in much physical distress, I was delighted with the scene and 
thrilled with pleasurable sensations. What sublime and in- 
spiring scenes God has created ! O, the joy of living, which 
anguish serves only to enrich ! " I will extol thee, my God, O 
king; and I will bless thy name for ever and ever." 

Arriving at the supply house, a pot of rice, into which was 

473 



Brazil. 

stirred bits of sun-dried beef and a quantity of lard, was 
hastily boiled., and more hastily devoured by the hungry wan- 
derers. Excessively fatigued and debilitated, we now sadly 
missed our hammocks. I stretched myself on a narrow plat- 
form of crooked, knotty poles upon which was a dry ox- 
hide as hard as a board, while my companions reclined on sim- 
ilar beds. Prostrated nervously, I felt each moment as if 
I were about to snap in two at the waist. A week later, two 
of our men went back after the luggage that we had left hang- 
ing in the tree, arriving there in just the nick of time to save 
it from being burned up, as a fire, started by the rubber har- 
vesters, swept through there close on their heels. 

I remained two weeks at this rubber shanty, endeavoring 
to recuperate a little and waiting for my mule to be brought 
to me from Pantanalzinho so that I might return to civiliza- 
tion accompanying one of the mule trains engaged in carry- 
ing rubber from the forests. 

We did not live in splendor here. The only food was boiled 
rice reeking with bad lard, wormy beans and manioc meal, 
though we occasionally luxurated with tapir meat or venison. 
No clothing or footwear of any kind was obtainable at this 
place. All of us were as black as foundrymen from tramping 
through burned districts, and there was not an ounce of soap 
with which to wash either our clothing or our skins, and I, 
for one, had no change of clothing. 

One day, while here, all the rubber gatherers from a 
neighboring district, burst suddenly in upon us, having 
abandoned their work for the season and fled because of an 
attack by the Tapanhuma Indians. These savages, yelling like 
demons from the pit, delivered their attack in the middle of 
the afternoon, strange to say, at a shanty where two men and 
the wife of one of them stayed. Sheltered within their cabin 
and fighting on the defensive with a repeating rifle, they 
were shielded from the arrows of the cannibal band, and finally 
repelled the attack ; though the younger man of the two, a 
mere youth, who manipulated the rifle, was shot in the ab- 
domen and through the calf of the. leg with broad-bladed ar- 

474 



Brazil. 

rows. The amount of damage suffered by the savages was 
not known, but their retreat was apparently due to the fact 
that their chief, who led the onset, was severely or fatally 
wounded. After the assault, the forest resounded with mania- 
cal yells for some time. But the rubber harvesters, knowing 
now that these implacable savages were in the vicinity and 
liable to shoot them down at any moment while they were 
about their work, were filled with alarm, and gathering up 
their effects, forsook their posts. The plucky youth who so 
bravely stood his ground., was dangerously hurt. He was 
brought to our shanty on an improvised stretcher made of two 
long poles and borne by two mules. Fortunately, no complica- 
tions set in and he finally recovered. Evidently the arrows 
were not poisoned. 

Having lost in the wreck my Bible and valuable notes and 
books, and all my writing material, and being ill, time occa- 
sionally hung heavily upon my hands. But our camp now and 
then presented an animated scene. Each Sunday, the rubber 
gatherers, hungering for social intercourse, assembled from 
every direction from their distant and lonely posts to visit 
each other and enjoy a little respite from the monotony 
of their life — the only opportunity- that some of them had to 
exercise the divine gift of speech. 

At length, my mule arrived, and I started southward ac- 
companying a train of mules carrying rubber. Several members 
of our late expedition had already started for home, while a 
few of the healthier ones remained awaiting fresh supplies and 
new men in order to make another attempt to explore the Rio 
Verde to its mouth. I now learned that my faithful horse had 
died while being driven southward to Pantanalzinho after 
leaving us at the Rio Verde. But, as I now had no baggage 
whatever, the mule was sufficient for all my requirements. 
Marching southward we consumed the whole of one day trav- 
ersing the broad forest already mentioned, camping at night- 
fall at the spot where my horse had died two months before. 
In the morning, my mule could not be found, and we delayed 
here all dav while a fruitless search was made tor it. The 



■175 



Brazil 

following morning, the search was renewed, but without suc- 
cess; so, concluding that the beast had wandered on south- 
ward, disconsolate because of the loss of its companion, we 
loaded up and resumed our march, I going on foot. Some 
days later, we learned from other persons that the mule was 
found dead where we had searched for it, and where the horse 
had died, having been killed by a venomous reptile as it pas- 
tured at night. The life and death of these two faithful serv- 
ants of mine was somewhat romantic. When I purchased them 
at the town of Goyaz and put them in with the other horses 
and mules that composed our troop at that time, I watched 
with interest to see what horse the mule would take a liking 
to, as mules always form an attachment for some one horse, 
which they will follow as a colt follows its dame. I was 
pleased when I saw that the mule had taken a liking to my 
horse, for I would now have no trouble when the time should 
come to separate myself from the cavalcade to follow a differ- 
ent route. I thought, at first, that the love was all on the part 
of the mule, but I soon discovered, with surprise, that the 
horse had an affection for the mule — an uncommon thing, for 
horses usually regard mules with an air of scorn. Thus, these 
two humble creatures were loving companions in life, and 
mingled their bones in death ; and to-day, their bones bleach 
at a lonely spot in the wilderness where rubber cavalcades halt 
only for a night. In all the days that have passed since this 
strange casualty, I never think of these two devoted serv- 
ants that were so gentle and faithful and served me so well, 
and that were my companions in so many extraordinary and 
never-to-be-forgotten experiences without a feeling of grief 
at their loss. Therefore, on this fateful expedition, I was 
divested of virtually everything I possessed and reduced to the 
condition of a tramp. 

My mule gone, I was forced to walk another sixty miles — 
and with the same footwear as on the previous distressing 
march. I contrived to torture myself over twenty-five miles 
of trail each day, though it took me from dawn until dark to 
do this. For an hour at noon, it was impossible to remain 

476 



Brazil 

erect and retain consciousness. It may appear amusing to the 
reader to know that when I reached the outskirts of civiliza- 
tion after these months of trying experiences in desolate, in- 
hospitable wildernesses and heard the cock crow at dawn, 
it was music to my ears. The rubber harvesters have told me 
that they had similar experiences after the long months of 
toil, extreme loneliness and ill-health in the rubber forests. 
When the day comes to start for home, they travel — on foot, 
of course — with all speed, even hurrying forward during the 
greater part of the night as well as the day. Not a few, finding 
the wilderness life no longer endurable, fly for home before 
the season's work is finished. Occasionally, one such, desert- 
ing his post, filches a fifty-pound block of rubber, carrying it 
on his back with his effects thirty or sixty miles in order to 
sell it to another rubber company than the one employing 
him and realize some ready cash to take home. He does this 
because all the rubber he secures for the company employing 
him is applied against his supposed indebtedness. 

It was a great pleasure to reach Pantanalzinho again, which 
I did in course of time; and after tarrying here a week to re- 
cuperate, I obtained a mule to ride upon and returned to the 
village of Rosario accompanying a rubber train. Here, also, 
I stayed a week or two awaiting an opportunity to descend the 
river Cuyaba to the city of that name. 

At last, the hour came to begin the last stage of my return 
journey to Cuyaba, and I embarked on a scow freighted with 
six tons of rubber, on which I was to travel one hundred 
sixty miles. The river Cuyaba was charming at this season, 
being at low water, and I would have greatly enjoyed the trip 
had my health and circumstances been better. 

We passed twenty-six lines of rapids in the descent, many 
of which were very dangerous. At first, after the Rio Verde 
experiences, my heart was in my mouth when I saw how 
perilous the navigation was, especially at night. But when I 
saw that the pilot, a short, very muscular man, who stood at 
the point of the bow holding either an immense oar, or a 
heavy pole in his hands, possessed an intimate knowledge of 

477 



Brazil. 

every rock, reef and current, and that he and his seven men 
were masters of the situation, having navigated this river from 
•childhood, I felt quite at ease. 

To pass these rapids, the scow was, a few times, partly 
lightened, once or twice, we let ourselves down by means of 
a wire cable anchored to a rock, and a capstan, part of the 
men wading in the water and guiding the boat ; at other times, 
we shot over shallow places, scraping the bottom ; again, we 
bolted headlong through narrow, rock-bound gateways, with 
destruction pressing us hard on both sides and digging its 
teeth into the ribs of our faithful craft; again, we dashed 
madly, but with unerring aim, between great rocks that barely 
let us slip through ; again, we tore at breakneck speed through 
a long, narrow channel where the outcropping reefs formed 
high walls on both sides ; again, we flew along close upon some 
island with the bushes raking us from stem to stern, and 
dodged skillfully around short bends in order to avoid sunken 
rocks ; again, we glided carelessly down rapids, where the 
water was deep, then caught ourselves by means of pikes and 
the exercise of great strength and dexterity, checking our prog- 
ress completely, with destruction yawning for us just ahead, 
and the current pulling us that way almost irresistibly ; again, 
we rushed fearlessly through narrow passages with the angry 
waters washing our decks, and whirlpools just beyond to 
the right and left ; and finally, we floated calmly and slowly 
onward where all was quiet and peaceful and all danger was 
past, and the canoemen either stretched themselves on the deck 
to rest, or played games, or sported in the water like river 
monsters at play. 

The Cuyaba is not navigable above the city of Cuyaba for 
anything but these small crafts, unless when the water is very 
high. Alligators exist in great numbers in this part of the 
river. I saw fifteen or twenty at one time lying on a patch of 
sand taking a sun bath, or slidingly stealthily into the water 
as we drew near. The river also abounds with fish. I saw 
the entire surface of the water in commotion for an hour or 
two one evening, caused by vast numbers of the finny tribes 

478 



Brazil 

flipping themselves out of the water, apparently to feast upon 
myriads of insects that were flying close to the water. 

While descending the river, we delayed a day or two at an 
ancient, wretched looking little village called Brotas. Indeed, 
it looked so very old, and so extremely poor and miserable, 
that it was little better than a savage encampment. While 
here, I was awakened in the night by hearing a man shouting 
loudly, " Come here, devil ! Come here, devil ! Come here, 
idiot ! " Inquiring in the morning who was yelling, and what 
the trouble was, my host replied, " O, that was priest John, 
painting the devil " — on a spree. Later in the day, priest John 
staggered into the house where I was, accompanied by two 
supporters who had linked arms with him, like a cruet-stand. 
All three were " rum sacks " as the Brazilians express it. 
This priest was not a Brazilian, but a German Pole. 

Arriving at the port of Cuyaba, I climbed the bank and 
boarded a little street-car, drawn by a pair of mules, to ride up 
to the city. But the conductor denied me a seat, compelling 
me to stand at the back end of the car, where ride the lowest 
class of people, because I did not have a coat. It is said 
in Brazil that " the cowl does not make the monk." But my« 
experince convinces me that the. cowl does make the monk. 
A person's character and worth is calculated everywhere very 
largely according to his dress. I was taken for a common 
laborer, and a man wanted to hire me at twenty dollars per 
month and send me to the rubber forests. At another time, 
I was not allowed to stay at a certain hotel because I rode 
up in a wagon, instead of on horseback. 

God, in His infinite love and mercy, had now brought me 
again to the city of Cuyaba; and though stripped of all ma- 
terial possessions, I still had that which is unspeakably more 
valuable — life and hope and rich treasures of experience, and 
best of all, the companionship in spirit of Him who is the 
source of all spiritual, intellectual and material wealth. 



479 



PART VI. 

LAST WORDS 



Chapter XLI. 

INCONCEIVABLE TREASURES SQUANDERED.— 
CHRISTIAN EXPANSION. 

In addition to one hundred thousand or more human vic- 
tims, the annual money offering to Saint Bacchus in the 
United States averages sixteen dollars per capita for the en- 
tire population, and an additional tax of twelve dollars per 
capita because of crime. Ten dollars per capita more is 
consumed annually in the terrible vice of gambling; eight 
dollars for tobacco ; five dollars for theatres ; one dollar sixty 
for candy, and fifty cents for chewing gum. In contrast to 
this, only about eleven cents per capita is given as a nation, 
or thirty-five cents for each church member, to Christian For- 
eign Missions. 

In other words, this Christian nation gives six times as 
much for chewing gum. Thirty times as much for automo- 
biles, seventeen times as much for candy, fifty-five times as 
much for theatres, eighty-eight times as much for tobacco, one 
hundred eleven times as much for gambling, and three hundred 
thirty-three times as much to sustain the worship of Saint 
Bacchus and to care for his worshippers as it gives to extend 
the glorious reign of the Prince of Peace in lands beyond our 
own. Our national contribution each year to Saint Bacchus 
would give a house and lot costing three thousand dollars to 
eight hundred thousand families — would build annually ja 
Chicago or a Philadelphia. Surely, in view of our stupen- 
dous offerings to luxury and vice, we are able to increase 
enormously our benevolence. If each church member should 
give the value of a letter postage each week, it would increase 

483 



Brazil 

the offering to foreign missions threefold. It is said that the 
United Brethren Church supports one missionary for every 
fifty-eight of its communicants ; but rich and powerful denom- 
inations, like the Presbyterians and Methodists, support but 
one missionary for every one thousand or fifteen hundred of 
their members. 

It is said to have cost the United States government an 
average of over one hundred thousand dollars for every Indian 
it has slain during its history; and twelve hundred dollars 
for every slave liberated, aside from the vast number of human 
lives sacrificed ; while it has cost but two hundred dollars each 
to Christianize the Indians. Again, our government has just 
expended one hundred seventy million dollars in military 
operations in the Philippine Islands, having sent there one 
hundred twenty-four thousand missionaries of the sword ; 
while Great Britain expended some six hundred million dollars 
in South Africa, sending there three hundred thousand mis- 
sionaries of the sword. 

But selfishness, or the self-centered life, cannot comprehend 
giving time, or substance, or self to the service of Christ. It 
can understanding trading, only. It needs nothing less than 
the Spirit of Heaven in Christ's disciples to free them from the 
low, sordid spirit and principles of the age. 

But what God requires of you, dear reader, is not merely 
your substance, but rather, and supremely, YOURSELF and 
YOUR LOVE. Jesus longs to reproduce Himself in each one 
of His followers. How exalted a life it is to live to repro- 
duce Christ ! The watchword of the Church should be always, 
" Every believer, like Christ, first, most and always a soul 
winner." " TO GATHER INTO CHRIST THE SOULS HE 
DIED TO SAVE, IS THE SUPREME OBJECT FOR 
WHICH THE CHURCH EXISTS," and " TO WIN FOR 
THE LAMB THAT WAS SLAIN THE REWARD OF 
HIS SUFFERINGS." 

Can one be a true disciple of Jesus and not believe in the 
divine enterprise of Foreign Missions ? When you pray, " Thy 
will be done on earth as it is in heaven," is this not a solemn 

484 



Brazil 

petition that the Law of Heaven may become the law of the 
whole earth,, and of ALL mankind? Does not, " God so loved 
the world that he gave his one Son," mean that God loved and 
gave His Son for ALL mankind of whatever race or social 
condition— for the most degraded savage no less than for 
the most exalted civilized man? Does not, "Man shall not 
live by bread alone but by every word of God," mean ALL 
men? And these marvelous words of God omnipotent, whose 
love is as infinite as His power, that come rolling down the ages 
and reverberate in our ears like the diapason of the sea: 
" Look unto me and be ye saved ALL THE ENDS OF THE 
EARTH "—Is this not a Voice as of rapturous music sum- 
moning every soul in the WHOLE earth? 

What a sublime answer Jesus gave to that seemingly fool- 
ish question, " Who is my neighbor? " He defined " my neigh- 
bor " to mean any person who comes within the sphere of my 
opportunities, and not merely within my narrow geographical 
limits— the man for whom I may render some service, wher- 
ever he may dwell. Consequently, a man who lives on the 
opposite side of the globe may be just as truly my neighbor 
as he who lives next door. 

What mean these marvelous words of the blessed Christ: 
" I am the light of the world "—I am the Illuminator of the 
entire earth— I am the Annihilator of the darkness of the whole 
world? And those words of matchless sweetness, the outpour- 
ing of the very heart of Christ that shall forever thrill and 
entrance the human heart, like celestial music : " Come unto 
me all ye that labor and are heavy laden and I will give you 

res t ;" Is not this glorious invitation for all the hungry human 

hearts in ALL the earth? 

Do you, dear reader, not wish to participate, either per- 
sonally or vicariously, in the evangelization of South America? 
Do you not wish to convert your money, not into " stocks " 
and " bonds," or " mining shares," or " real estate," but into 
men fashioned after the one MAN? Here is a "safe invest- 
ment," and one that will go on bearing " interest," compounded 
forever, and be an unfailing source of joy to the " investor." 

485 



Brazil 

The men who have been redeemed through your instrumen- 
tality, and have thus become your " capital," will one day join 
you in the presence of your glorified Saviour, bringing many 
others, perhaps, with them. What an unspeakable happiness 
and satisfaction that will be to you ! It will be your corona- 
tion day, and a star-gemmed diadem of never-fading light will 
adorn your brow. This is indeed to transfer your treasures, 
or your wealth, to Heaven, and to construct for yourself a 
LIVING monument that will resist the ravages of time 
throughout all ages, and grow more and more beautiful forever. 
The Bank of Heaven pays one hundredfold — ten thousand 
per cent. — upon all deposits. " Bring all the tithes into the 
storehouse and I will open the flood-gates of heaven and pour 
you out cataracts of blessing." 

The Lord Jesus Christ, the great Missionary, abdicating 
the eternal Throne, renounced the supreme majesty of Deity 
to become a poor, despised foreign missionary in a world over- 
flowing with all manner of evil and misery, that He might 
redeem, transform and transfigure, physically, mentally, spir- 
itually and socially the most unworthy and the most unfit. 
" He saved others, Himself He could not save." He " saw 
the travail of His soul and was satisfied." He was not ad- 
vertised as a " great preacher " in receipt of a " big salary." 
He " was despised and rejected " by the " great." He did 
not preach in a palatial " First Church " with a ten-thousand- 
dollar organ and four or five-thousand-dollar choir behind him, 
and a " millionaire congregation " before him ; nor did He 
hide himself away in His " study " from the needy world. 
His auditorium was the star-adorned universe; His pulpit, 
the fisherman's boat, the hillside and the highway, the 
moneyless man's cottage and the " moneyed " man's " resi- 
dence ; " His congregation, the " masses ; " His music, the 
spontaneous and triumphant songs of the redeemed, whose 
hearts were bursting with gladness and thanksgiving ; His rec- 
ompense, transformed men. May not Christ's disciples of the 
present day follow Him, when needful, in His methods of 
evangelizing and mode of Life? And John the Baptist, too — 

486 



Brazil 

What was his salary? Who was his tailor? At what Waldorf- 
Astoria did he stay? Yet, how mighty were his deeds! 

Moreover, expansion is an immutable law of nature. Every 
living thing on the earth is growing and multiplying and bear- 
ing fruit, and this fruit becomes seed for still more fruit. 
So also the Church. It must grow, expand and multiply itself 
by each one of its members bearing fruit. The moment it 
ceases to grow, it begins to decay. Death is the absence of 
growth. Does not every merchant, every manufacturer, and 
every business man seek to expand his business? They reach 
out of the confines of the earth. They believe ardently in com- 
mercial foreign missions. 

There was never such an age of opportunity for the Church 
as NOW. What a supreme happiness it is to be the instru- 
ment whereby a degraded, brutalized, human soul is implanted 
with the divine life, and is made to germinate, blossom, and 
grow beautiful and fragrant as the rose of Sharon by the life- 
imbuing breath of the Son of God ! It surpasses in sweetness 
all other human experience; it is an age-enduring benediction. 
To relieve disease of soul and of mind, is the highest and 
holiest function possible to man. 

Dear reader, you have kindly and patiently followed me 
through this volume. I trust that you, yourself, are living in 
daily and hourly spiritual companionship with the Lord Jesus 
Christ; and that you know from personal experience, the 
nobility, the exaltation, the exquisite pleasure and happiness 
of such a life. And if you have found Him a mighty Saviour, 
and need Him every hour, and He fills your soul with gladness, 
do not our neighbors of the great southern continent need 
Him also? 

" Our desire for you is that ye might be filled with the 
knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understand- 
ing ; that ye might walk worthy of the Lord unto all pleasing, 
bearing fruit in every good work, and increasing in the knowl- 
edge of God." 



487 



321 91 












♦ ay ^ • 












o iP V*. *• ^^ -4, O^ • 



V^\*> 









H^ 






;-. V y^mx. * y\-<sakX V.tfik.% 



















^ < 




*o9 



^d* 



J°- 






>*" • !.*"* "^ 















"oV 1 
o v <* « * ° 









^*V %*3??^V 'V^-V V^-V .. 

>* *20fiSr- w ••«& ^/ #fe ^ :ie 




r HECKMAN gT| gv * 0, v vpW? J* - *%» "•!pPv ft o *■ 

BINDERY INC. P| «' .^ V V* ^ ... . V *' "* «*° . , . 



HECKMAN 

BINDERY INC 

AUG 91 



N. MANCHESTER, 
INDIANA 46962 



x,* + .•***. \/ ••< 









